Hope Will Never Die
by TearStainedUzumaki
Summary: Before the chunin exams, Naruto learns his heritage from the Kyuubi. Finding the drive that he wasn't supposed to have until three years later, he gives up his childish act, and decides to become a ninja greater than his father. NaruHarem Pairingswitching
1. Changing Uzumaki

**For the record, the harem is already thought of. If you don't approve of this, stop reading now, because I won't be changing it...again. At least, there are no PERMANENT changes to the harem, and only pairingswitching.**

_**Permanent Harem: Hinata, Ino, Shizune, Hana Inuzuka, Nii Yugito, Fuu, Kin, Tayuya, and Anko. Absolutely will not include: Movie characters, Filler Arc characters, Temari, Hanabi, Kurenai, or Tsunade. PairingSwitching: TenTen, Sakura, and Yugito.**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Changing Uzumaki**

This time, he was pissed. Though, somewhere in the back of his mind, he had always known it was coming. His façade of always being happy, cheerful, and the one he had acquired during the academy, which was being a dumb ass, was once again fading. It was closing in on the time where he would drop the façade anyway, though he wanted to be strong enough to back those words up.

But now, he wasn't so sure he was ever going to get the chance to show his true self.

"So…you've entered us into the chunin exams…two days before the exam?" Naruto inquired, a building cloud of ki surrounding him.

The ki was directed at none other than their so called sensei, as the cycloptic ninja scratched the back of his head sheepishly, akin to the loud blonde in front of him.

"Well, I had hoped to inform you tomorrow, but I'm going to be busy." He said with his unusual eye smile.

"That's no better." Sasuke growled, almost as pissed as Naruto. Their pink haired comrade only stared in disbelief at their sensei, mind trying to wrap around the thought of chunin exam.

"You three shouldn't worry though! I'm sure you're all ready for this!"

"Kakashi-sensei, all you've taught us is tree climbing. Unless walking up a tree is going to save us from a hail of kunai and chunin ranked jutsu, I doubt we're ready." Naruto deadpanned, gaining a raised eyebrow from the jonin.

"Honestly, Naruto! I thought you'd be excited about this!"

Naruto frowned. 'Oh yeah, I'm the dead last who rushes into everything blindly. Of course I'd be happy to go into a deadly tournament that's sure to get my less than mediocre ass killed.'

At the same time as his thoughts, Naruto plastered on his fake smile. "Of course I'm excited about it. I'm just worried too is all! We're going to dominate, believe it!"

The next second, a fist collided with the back of Naruto's head, making him wince in pain. '_Leave it to Sakura to capitalize on nothing at all.'_

"Baka, don't be so arrogant! The chunin exams are no joke!"

"Well, seeing as you three have some preparing to do, I'll be on my way. See you at the academy at 7 sharp in two days." With a wave, Kakashi vanished into wind.

"I've got to learn how he does that!" Naruto exclaimed. Another fist met his head.

"Don't be stupid! That jutsu's probably too advanced for a dobe like you! Isn't that right Sasuke-kun?" Just like that, the bubble gum ninja went from yelling to fawning.

Sasuke's reply was to promptly walk away. The ever so faithful obsessor *which is not a word by the way, don't go using it*, Sakura bonded after him like a puppy on a leash. Naruto's smile fell instantly and he rubbed the knots on his head.

"The hell does she do that for. As if talking is too hard, she has to hit to get a point across."

Walking back towards his apartment, Naruto pushed the thoughts away. He still had a small crush on Sakura, if that. He knew that it was a long shot from being called love, and the only reason he made it seem that way was to keep up appearances. He wouldn't turn down a date any time soon, but he wasn't going to keep letting her hit him either. Being obsessed was something that he would like to leave to fangirls and he was far from a masochist as well.

Entering his apartment he looked at the various cups or insta-ramen strewn over the foyer. It was the only dirty place in the apartment, which was just a show to those who were at his front door.

On contraire to popular village beliefs, Naruto was not a dead last. He was far from an idiot, albeit he didn't have as much knowledge as others due to the teachers sabotaging his learning at the academy. He had taken it upon himself to learn as much as possible on his own, and because of this, knew things that others his age shouldn't have known.

He wasn't weak. He'd be damned if he said he was ready for chunin though. His skills were lacking greatly, and he had to admit that most of his accomplishments were based on dumb luck. *Note, pretty much it's canon Naruto but with the insight to know his strengths and weaknesses.*

He knew that a certain Hyuga had a crush on him. Come on, when someone stalks…follows you around damn near every day, you're liable to notice them at least once. The only problem was that Naruto didn't want to get too close to her. One, if he did, the villagers were likely to start treating her the way they treat him. Two, if he got with Sakura, the villagers would treat her the way they treated him. (Oh would he enjoy watching that until he developed actual feelings for the girl.) Three, she kind of creeped him out. Past that, he just wanted the girl to be happy. So far, she was content with just watching him train.

Walking into his room, he pulled off his horrid jacket and flopped onto his bed. He flared a hand sign, creating three clones.

"Go train or whatever the fuck you do while I'm sleep."

"Come on boss, you should actually try to train too. You're never going to get stronger this way." One of the clones said.

"Yeah boss. You want to prove everyone wrong don't you? Quite procrastinating and get off your lazy ass!" The second one responded. Naruto rolled over on his bed.

"If it weren't for the fact that you were me, I'd tell you to go fuck yourself. But I don't feel like masturbating right now, and I'm already feeling silly for arguing with myself." He waved the clones off who only looked at him sadly.

Because they were him, they knew what he was feeling. Kakashi hadn't really taught them much of anything, just like the academy. Now they were going to be put into the chunin exams. Naruto knew it was only for Sasuke. Kakashi knew perfectly Naruto and Sakura were nowhere near ready for the chunin exams, but Sasuke was probably. All their sensei had done was set them up for humiliation, and ultimately failure. A deep chuckle inside of Naruto's mind made him wince.

"**Priceless. You should see the look on your face."** The booming voice of the Kyubi laughed at it's container.

"Go choke on it, furball." Naruto spat back, entering his mind.

"**My, pretty feisty today aren't we? What happened to having a mutual relationship?"**

Naruto dug in his ear. "You're the one that keeps bugging me dammit! We agreed that you wouldn't be evil and I'd listen to your advice here or there."

"**Yes, nowhere does it say I can't annoy the living shit out of you. Also, you haven't been listening to a word I've been saying recently."** The foxes red eyes narrowed at the blonde, sending a shiver up his spine. Even knowing that the fox was one of his word, Naruto could never forget that it was also a dangerous killing machine. If it wasn't for the seal, he wouldn't have anything to do with the creature.

But not being able to escape his fate as a jinchuriki, Naruto opted to make peace with the beast, or as close to peace as he could get. The fox wasn't downright evil, but a hell ride from even being remotely good. When not being evil, it was just being annoying as all hell.

"The only advice you've been giving me lately is to talk to Hinata so we can mate and pop out 'little kits.' I don't even like her like that…much…" A small blush crossed his face, earning chuckles from the demon.

"**Fool, I've been telling you to train with the Hyuga heiress as well. She could've been helping you get stronger, as well as you helping her overcome her insecurities. She will be in the same position as you in the chunin exams."**

Naruto's head shot up. "What?"

"**She has been watching you train. This means that she has been neglecting her own training. As well, her father cast her aside and has not been teaching her himself."**

"How do you know that?"

"**Your mind is not the only one accessible to a mighty demon, kit."**

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "You could read other people's minds this whole time? You could've been helping me you stupid fox!"

"**No. If I were to reveal what others are thinking to you, things would only get worse. Besides, it's fun to screw with you."** Was the foxes only reply before bursting into laughter. "**Seeing as you already know my little secret now, would you like to know more?"**

Naruto stretched before getting comfortable on the sewer floor, indicating that he was willing to listen to more. The fox laid down as well, putting its muzzle on its front paws.

"**Listen closely, because I intend to make you take life seriously. As you are now, you are but a liability to yourself, everyone around you, and especially me."**

Naruto grunted at that.

"**Of your former classmates, only the Nara child is ready to be a chunin. His brain more than makes up for his lack of physical strength, though with his clans stronger moves, that won't matter for long. The Inuzuka, Akimichi, Aburame, and Uchiha are ready physically. However, their mindset will hinder them from achieving that goal. Hinata would be ready physically if she was trained properly, but even so, she is far too focused on you and the problems that she deals with daily."**

Naruto frowned. Just off of inquiry, it sounded like Hinata was living a shitty life as well. It made him think of the Hyuga heiress even more.

"**Finally, you have the Haruno and Yamanaka. Neither of them should even consider chunin. Both are completely pathetic physically, in more ways than one. Mentally, they share brains with Sasuke seeing as their heads are so far up the pompous brats ass."**

Even Naruto had to giggle at that one.

"**But the Yamanaka may take less convincing to become serious, seeing as she has spent less time with the Uchiha."**

"Okay, so what does this have to do with me?" Naruto asked.

"**Don't you get it kit? None of these kids are ready because none of them are taking being a ninja seriously. They are either latched onto their jonin sensei's, or dealing with problems the way children would, which is relying on others. None of you, outside of the Nara, has the mindset of taking your future into your own hands seriously. Do you truly wish to become Hokage?"**

"Of course!" Naruto shouted.

"**Then take a page from your fathers book and get serious!" **The fox boomed. As silence filled the area, it looked at Naruto. His mouth hung open and his eyes stared straight forward. The Kyubi rose an eyebrow for a split second before it realized the mistake it had just made. "**Crap…"**

"You knew who my father was?" Naruto asked, just above a whisper. The fox sighed and leaned up, stretching as it did.

"**Of course I know who your father is kit, he was the one who sealed me inside of you."**

Just like that, pieces of a puzzle fell into place. When Naruto had learned about the Kyubi, the third had said it was the Fourth that sealed it inside of him. Now looking back on it, he felt stupid for not asking why him of all people. Then even more stupid for not seeing the resemblance between him and his hero. Finally, he felt like a moron for not seeing how OBVIOUS all of the clues were. In consolation, he could at least say most of the villagers were just as stupid.

"Why…why didn't you tell me sooner?" Naruto asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"**It doesn't mean as much coming from me as it would've coming from the Hokage."** The fox replied. Cold hearted demon, he may be, but he still believed in honor. The honor of telling Naruto the truth should've been reserved for someone precious to him.

Naruto held his head in frustration. The Fourth Hokage was his father. Okay, it wasn't much of a shock when you did think about all the obvious clues, but it was still an overwhelming revelation. He felt so many emotions at once. Anger, joy, sadness, relief. It all washed over him like a soothing breeze, only to be yanked away by what the Kyubi had just said.

"I'm…I'm not taking being a ninja seriously…" The fox watched as Naruto began thinking, knowing that it was rare to see Naruto evaluate anything he had said. "You're right. This whole time me and my friends have been sitting here, waiting for things to fall into our laps. The little effort we do put forth is nowhere near enough, especially when we live in a world where death is as natural as breathing."

The fox nodded, actually shocked that Naruto had figured it out so quickly. "**Your father would not be proud of this village as it is now."** He added.

"I know…jiji is doing the best he can, but he's already old. And I know dad didn't get to be Hokage by sitting around." Naruto frowned, looking at himself. He felt ashamed now. Ashamed of the fact that he had been playing ninja for the most part of his life. Ashamed that he had purposely let himself get as weak as he was. Ashamed that he had accepted it.

"**Well then, Naruto. If you know this, then what are you going to do? Are you going to keep your façade, and wait for that loathsome, pathetic excuse for a sensei to teach you something?"**

"No…not at all. I'll be stuck here for the rest of my life if I waited." He paused, standing up with a confident smirk. "The Fourth Hokage is my father, and knowing that only makes me want to become Hokage even more. Not just to make him proud, but to prove that I am his son. But more than that…" Naruto closed his eyes. "To prove that I'm better than him. I want to become a ninja that even dad could only dream of being. I want to be able to destroy bijuu if need be!"

The Kyubi scoffed at Naruto's implications.

"**Knowing that the Fourth is your father has spurred all of this?" **The demon chuckled slightly.

"No…and yes. I was going to start getting a bit more serious regardless, but knowing that my father was the greatest shinobi to walk this planet makes me want follow after him, and eventually over take him. Plus…I want to protect those precious to me, especially Hinata. If what you said is true, then she's had a rough life just like me. I won't be able to make her happy if I'm weak."

Naruto frowned again. The weight of what the Kyubi had revealed to him was weighing completely on his shoulders. It shouldn't have taken him until now to get serious about his training. It definitely shouldn't have taken him that long to see the path they were going down. He needed to start thinking about what was truly important, even if it meant sacrificing happiness now for happiness in the future.

"From this point on, Naruto Uzumaki…Namikaze, is going to be the best damn ninja to walk the face of this earth. No one will forget that name."

Without warning, Naruto left his mind, much to the chagrin of the demon fox. He immediately jumped out of his bed and reached for his jacket. Stopping in mid motion, he frowned at the offending piece of clothing.

"No. I can't wear that crap anymore."

The reality was that Naruto had always worn bright colors so people could see him when he did his pranks. They would remember him, acknowledge him. But that was the past now. He didn't need to pull pranks anymore. (Though he wasn't saying he was going to stop completely) He was going to have people acknowledge him for his skills.

Instead, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of black cargo pants. Switching those with his orange jumpsuit pants, he left the dark blue shirt on. But he ripped the sleeves off anyway, feeling that it was a slight variation from the jumpsuit, blue shirt combo he usually wore. Plus, it was cheaper than going to buy brand new clothes anyway. Real ninja didn't have time to worry about exactly what they had to wear.

"Yo, boss, what's with the new look?" The clones filed back into his room, two holding scrolls, the last one balancing kunai on the tips of its fingers. Naruto glared at the useless act for a second before turning to the clone that asked the question.

"Just dispel and save me the trouble of explaining to myself." The clones did as ordered and Naruto was instantly filled with the knowledge of the scrolls, and how balancing kunai on the tips of his fingers was actually good concentration practice. Who knew?

Naruto grabbed several kunai and shuriken before heading out. The sun was setting so he didn't have nearly as much time as he thought. He knew one night of intense training wasn't going to make much of a difference, but if he could be at least one percent stronger by the chunin exams, then he'd take that one percent. Just before he reached the road, he paused. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and calmed down.

'_I won't be sluggish if I go calmly._' He jumped onto a rooftop and began heading towards his team's training field, using large and smooth strides as he crossed the buildings. It didn't take him long to reach field, and he smirked. The entire time he was on alert and even caught one of the villagers throwing something at him while he passed. Normally, he would have missed the little stunt.

"Okay, so what am I going to do until the morning?"

"**How about I show you a little jutsu."** The Kyubi boomed in his mind. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"You're being a lot more helpful than normal. What's gotten into you?"

"**You are getting serious. That's it and that's all. I want you to be strong enough to give me a challenge by the time I escape and destroy everything."** The Kyubi chuckled as Naruto grimaced.

"Hey, no evil talk! Now what's the jutsu you're gonna show me?" Naruto closed his eyes as the demon sent an image of a shadowy figure standing in a clear field. The man was surrounded by enemies and they all had weapons.

"**The name of this technique is the Tatsumaki Renpatsu."** (Tornado Barrage) "**It's a move The Fourth…your father created."**

Naruto remained silent and watched the scene. The person waited until all the enemies were close to him. Suddenly he spun, whipping up a large gale that quickly formed into a small twister. The enemies were sucked up and the person seemed to be flashing in and out of the twister, slashing the enemies with a katana.

"I can't do that." Naruto said bluntly. "For one, I didn't even know I had a wind affinity until just now. So I won't be able to use anything wind related until I get at least a week of training in. Even more, dad was known as the Golden Flash for a reason. I can't move that fast, so I wouldn't be able to attack my opponents while they're in the tornado."

The Kyubi smirked at Naruto's conclusion. It also reminded him that he was still young. "**Kit, you have shadow clones. You can get one month of training in a night. As for the speed, use your clones here too."**

All the blonde could do was sigh. Maybe it was going to take a little more for him to change completely. Seeing that move made him feel lazy. For a moment, he began to have second thoughts about everything. Could he really become as great a ninja as his father?

He looked up towards the sky. Thinking about wasn't going to get him anywhere. Now wasn't the time to be having doubts. He needed to get stronger, for everyone's sake.

"Alright, let's get started. But after I've mastered that move, I want to try to make one myself." Naruto said creating hundreds of shadow clones.

As the moon began to settle into the night sky, a silent wind blew over the leaf village. Many who felt it, also felt the tides of change. Not good, nor bad. The serene feeling of the blessed air chilled some and brought melancholy to others. It was the last night Uzumaki Naruto wore his mask…

* * *

The next day…

The sun shined brilliantly down onto the sleeping face of the Uzumaki, seeming to illuminate his oblivious, yet peaceful features. The silent chirp of birds echoed off of the thousands of pieces of steel that littered the training ground. With kunai, shuriken and ninja wire in heaps all over the field, it looked more like a battleground. Silently stalking the outskirts of the field, someone drew a kunai and looked at the helpless blonde.

In a blur of speed, the person dashed toward the sleeping teen. In less than a second, the person was pinned to the ground, a kunai aimed at the back of their head.

"Uh…heheh, wake up call boss!" The clone said nervously as Naruto held its arm behind its back.

"Good work." Naruto said before dispelling the clone. The clones had been trying to get the drop on him ever since training had ended the earlier that morning. He had intentionally left one alive to see what it would do. 'I wonder if this falls under suicidal tendencies.'

Naruto looked around at the field, stretching and yawning. He had only gotten about an hour of sleep, but the thought of how much he had progressed just by using shadow clones brought a smile to his face. He wasn't sure if he was ready to take on the chunin exams just yet, but he was sure that compared to the Naruto he was the day before, he was ready to give it a shot. With the flare of a hand sign, the kunai and shuriken vanished in poofs of smoke. He walked around and collected the real weapons before heading back towards the village.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Naruto smirked sadly. It felt like the first real breath of air he had ever taken. It saddened him that he could've changed at any time but chose not to. Shaking his head, he decided to no longer dwell on the past. He needed to look towards the future, or he'd never be able to make it better. The sound of a child crying caught his attention and he rose an eyebrow.

"Hey, leave Konohamaru alone!" Sakura's voice was heard several seconds later. Naruto groaned and walked towards the area where the sounds were coming from.

"This little brat needs to watch were he's going from now on!" A teen wearing what appeared to be a full body, black cat pajama suit and makeup held the little boy up by the scruff of his shirt. Moegi and Udon stood behind Sakura helplessly, and Sakura stood there screeching like a banshee…

"Come on, Kankurou, we don't have time for this." A sandy haired blonde with a fan on her back said in annoyance. She was looking around nervously as if expecting someone to show up at any moment. Naruto sighed again. He hadn't wanted anyone to see him until the chunin exams had actually started.

"Hey, drop the kid before I make you." Naruto said as he walked around the corner with his hands in his pockets.

"Naruto!" Sakura called, actually a bit excited to see her team mate. That excitement turned to curiosity as she noticed his new attire.

"What did you say brat?" Kankorou said glaring at Naruto.

"Come on, boss, teach this pajama wearing freak a lesson!" Konohamaru called, still struggling against the older genin's grip.

"I said drop the kid." Naruto's voice was right in Kankurou's ear. A shadow clone stood right behind Kankurou, holding a kunai to his neck. "We don't want any trouble, especially right before the chunin exams."

Kankurou gulped, eyes wide as he never noticed the clone there, nor had he felt any signs of chakra building when Naruto performed the technique. He was too distracted by Konohamaru to see if he had made any hand signs at all. Kankurou prepared to release Konohamaru, but before he could, a small rock hit his hand.

Everyone's gaze, save for Naruto, went up into the nearby tree. Naruto scoffed, whispering show-off.

"You should listen to the dobe." Sasuke said and jumped from the tree, slowly walking towards the group.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried, swooning over the raven haired Uchiha. Naruto rolled his eyes and prepared to walk away until he felt a malicious presence. His eyes widened and he turned around.

"G-Gaara!" Kankurou stammered out, taking a step back from the red head that had just showed up. "We..we were just-"

"Shut up, before I kill you." Gaara spoke monotonously, and Naruto could see the kids tremble visibly. Even Sakura seemed to be shaking. Gaara's gaze passed over everyone's faces, but lingered on Sasuke's. "Mother wants your blood. I look forward to proving my existence against you."

"**Naruto, say this."** The Kyubi told Naruto, getting a questionable gaze.

"Gaara. Your existence can't be proved by killing. You're only making yourself fade further into darkness as that _thing _gains more power. If you're willing, meet me behind the chunin exams building an hour before the test. I need to talk to you."

Temari and Kankurou looked astonished between the blonde and their brother. Did he know that he had just gotten himself killed. The weird part was that he wasn't dead already. Sakura and Sasuke also looked on in bewilderment.

"Fine. But if what you have to say doesn't interest me, I will kill you."

"Works for me." Naruto said and crossed his arms. He frowned, not knowing what the Kyubi was playing at. The sand trio walked away, Temari and Kankurou giving nervous glances back at the leaf nin.

"Hey boss, that was cool!" Konohamaru exclaimed. Naruto smiled down at him, but quickly frowned as Sakura opened her mouth.

"Not as cool as Sasuke-kun!" All present, including Sasuke, sighed.

"N-Naruto-senpai, what's with that n-new look?" Moegi asked, head cocked to the side in curiosity. Udon and Konohamaru seemed to want an answer as well. Once again, Sakura made her opinion known.

"Yeah Naruto-baka! Why does it look like you're on your way to do laundry?" She stifled her own snickers.

"To answer your question Moegi, real ninja don't have time to worry about appearances all the time. As long as what you're wearing makes it easier for you fight, then it doesn't matter what you wear." He answered in a calm tone, taking all present by surprise. "Now, I'd love to stay and get re-acquainted with my team, but I've got a little more training to do before the exams tomorrow. Ja'ne." With the wave of his hand, Naruto walked away from the stunned group.

Konohamaru and friends left without a second thought, leaving a very confused pink haired kunoichi and slightly disturbed Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun…I think there's something different about Naruto." Sakura inquired.

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke said before turning to walk away. "It's obvious that's the same shirt he usually wears."


	2. Fruits of Devotion

**Chapter 2: Fruits of Devotion**

Lucky for him, he was good at predicting the stupidity of his team mates. Neither had wondered how he was able to get the drop on Kankurou several hours ago. So of course they wouldn't have thought too much about him actually going to train. He figured Sasuke just didn't care, with that whole superiority complex of his, and Sakura followed him blindly with that whole obsession complex of hers. Also going by things that he was good at predicting, he expected Hinata to be finishing her team training and being on her way to stalk…watch him.

He stood up, wiping sweat from doing push-ups. He turned towards the stone pillars where he knew Hinata was hiding. She was most likely watching with her byakugan. Chuckling, he pretended not to notice her, creating several clones before taking a fighting stance. He was used to it, and under the watchful gaze of the Hyuga heiress, Naruto felt he could train in peace. No one would come to disturb him without Hinata noticing, and when he felt her lower her chakra, he would know something was up.

After several minutes of light sparring Naruto finally stretched and looked directly at the pillar. "Hey, Hinata, you can come out at any time if you want to practice before the exams."

A small squeak was his only reply. He chuckled, holding back full blown laughter and walked towards the starry eyed girl. She blushed profusely, amazed that her long time crush had known she was there. She looked up at him, wondering if it was the real Naruto.

For reference, Hinata Hyuga was, and still is, the shyest girl to walk the Hidden Leaf Village. So as the image of her crush, puppy love or not, seemed to descend from the heavens themselves, one could only imagine that the girl was completely, utterly, speechless. As the gears in her head cranked into overdrive to prevent the pre-teen from falling back and most likely smacking her skull onto hardened soil, she let out what Naruto could only describe as a pleasure filled moan of bliss known only to those who have felt complete in more ways than one, yet contained all the virtue of an angel.

As overdramatic as it seemed, it was exactly what happened.

'_Naruto-kun…he's talking to me!'_

The only thought that crossed the princess's mind, of course, was on this trifle event. Naruto, on the other hand, was debating running from the now dream induced girl. He was currently waving his hand in front of the spaced out pre-teens face, hoping that her conscious wasn't on a one way trip to obsession land.

"Yo? Hinata! Wake the hell up!" He called shaking the girl slightly. The girl shook her head before looking directly into Naruto's eyes…

And diving right back into the blissful ocean of her mind.

'_Well shit! We aren't gonna make any progress like this.' _Naruto picked the girl up, carrying her towards a tree. He began to sweat as the girl incoherently mumbled something along the lines of 'Don't stop Naruto-kun.'

Setting her down by the tree, he sighed before going to continue his own training.

"Actually, maybe I should've thought that one through a little more. I hate to admit it, but she may be almost as bad as Sakura in her own little way."

Naruto really liked Hinata, more than Sakura no doubt, but he couldn't ignore the fact that she was just plain weird. He was insightful, yes, but still held his adolescent mind. There was a lot the boy knew about love and romance, though it seemed he still didn't completely understand the term 'shy' and the concept of 'being too afraid of rejection to actually confront my crush and/or love'. Hinata Hyuga fell into both categories.

So until the young teen actually began to understand the true depth of the feelings Hinata had for him, he would never truly be able to accept the girl's heart. Nor would he be able to open his heart in the same way…

"Uhn…" The Hyuga heiress began to stir in her semi-conscious state. "N…Naruto-kun?"

Naruto paused from his exercise and smiled at the princess. He dispelled the remaining clones and walked over to the girl. Of course, she blushed, and a flurry of questions ran through her mind.

'_Is that really Naruto-kun? He looks so…different! Where's the orange?'_

"Yo, Hinata, if you keep fainting on me like that, we'll never get any training done." Naruto called flopping down next to the girl. Her blush grew at the close proximity, and she suddenly found herself holding her breath. It was unbelievable, to actually be having _real interaction _with the blonde. Though she hadn't spoken one coherent word the entire time, now's better than never.

"N-Naruto-kun…" And she had nothing. Nothing could come to her to describe exactly what she wanted to say to him. She didn't know herself.

In the back of her mind, she wanted to speak up, to engage a conversation or anything, instead of just sitting there like a choking ditz. Her irrational side was telling her to be reckless and admit her feelings on the spot. However, the Hyuga could have a level head, to some degree and could easily push that thought away. The fact that Naruto was taking his time to talk to her meant that he was interested in her, even if just bordering slight curiosity.

She knew she wasn't very articulate to begin with, and her courage was just a shot above none. So tears came to her eyes as she realized that she wouldn't be able to speak to him comfortably at that time. She cursed herself on the inside, feeling weak and helpless. Unable to confront Naruto in a simple conversation, and unable to stand up to her father over her own usefulness.

Pathetic.

She felt pathetic, in her own right. All the talks of her being useless and being shunned by her own family. She was finally starting to think that maybe there was a reason. How would she change her entire clan if she couldn't even talk to her crush? Now she couldn't even look at him. He must have felt the same way. Everyone around her thought she was pathetic. Her father, her sister, Neji, her teammates…and now even Naruto.

Naruto froze in shock as tears streamed down the pre-teens face and she rose, darting from the area before Naruto could utter a single word. His gaze followed the girl until she was gone from his sight. Half of him thought that the girl was of course, being weird. However, a sliver of acknowledgement showed that he was seriously worried about the girl. He hoped he hadn't done anything to cause the sudden emotional change in the girl.

"**Yeah, you just fucked up kit." **The Kyubi barked in a calm tone, as calm as a bellowing demon could get.

"What? What did I do? What's wrong with her?" Naruto asked, hoping he could find a way to fix whatever had just happened.

"**She's hurting kit. That's all I can tell you. This is a problem you will have to fix on your own." **

Naruto frowned. Maybe he did come on too strong. He startled the girl, but why would she run off crying? For a split second, he wondered if Hinata felt just like the villagers. He wondered if she had hated him all along…

"**Stop it kit. It's not like that at all." **The fox coaxed the blonde as the thoughts began to sadden him. He could care less about what many people thought of him, but he had thought Hinata admired him the entire time. The demon knew that Naruto was still young, so he couldn't completely blame the blonde for being oblivious. **"Focus on your training for tomorrow."**

Naruto silently nodded his head, knowing that dwelling on the girl would distract from his training. Of course he wouldn't just push her to the side, opting instead to find out what was wrong with her during the chunin exams. Besides, maybe pushing her away now would be a good thing.

The thought itself both confused and hurt him. She was one of the only kind people to him, so he didn't want her to vanish from his life all together. But if she were to be away from him, then he'd be able to get stronger and re-build whatever bond they had over time.

"**Kit, if you continue to practice tonight, you will be able to master the Tatsumaki Rendan. You will have enough time to practice those other moves you've been working on as well." **The fox was trying to re-focus him, albeit, with a bit more effort for his comfort. He'd be damned if Naruto was killed during the chunin exams because he continued to neglect his training.

"Okay…" Naruto sighed and created five clones. The clones looked at their creator with worry, all still feeling what he was. Drawing a kunai, Naruto lazily slid into his own little fighting stance. He held the kunai reverse handed, his arm sticking straight out. His legs were spread wide and his other arm was pressed to his side. It was like a kenjutsu variation of judo.

The clones sighed themselves before rushing the original all at once. Naruto spun effortlessly, plunging the kunai into one of the clones. As another one drew close, he brutally front snap kicked it into smoke. Spinning one more time, he used his forearm to block a jump kick from the third clone. The fourth clone used the distraction to sweep Naruto. Using the momentum from his backwards motion, he planted his hands on the ground and vaulted into a backflip. In the air, he flashed through hand signs before putting his fingers to his lips.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Yari!" (Wind Technique: Wind Javelin!) **After taking a deep inhale, Naruto fired one swift stream of wind down onto the two clones, destroying them instantly.

As he landed, he cursed. The sounds of sizzling paper surrounded him. The last clone had surrounded him with exploding tags. Desperately looking around, he spotted the clone hiding in a tree. Quickly, he flared one last hand sign. The clone's eyes widened as it was switched with the original in a substitution jutsu, and was destroyed by its own trap. Naruto dropped from the tree, sighing in indignation.

"**That's good kit. Quick and efficient. You're starting to show the true prowess of you shinobi." **

Naruto didn't respond for several seconds, mind drifting to everywhere and nowhere. Two days of training still wasn't enough for him to dominate in the chunin exams, but he had one small advantage. Everyone that knew him would be thinking that he's still the same weak, dead last. With the element of surprise and deception, he could at least catch many people off guard.

"Hey…fox, if I master Tatsumaki Rendan, I won't be efficient with that last jutsu. I can practice my Kaze Yari up to the point where it's strong enough to do real damage. I won't always be up against kage bunshins. Then I can focus on doing that last jutsu. I'd rather go into the exams with at least two decent jutsus and one experimental one."

"**If that is what you wish." **

Naruto nodded, feeling grateful that the fox wasn't bothering him as much as usual. He kept his mouth shut, knowing that it wasn't permanent. His mind kept focused, trying desperately not to think of Hinata. The whole ordeal confused him greatly. Shouldn't he had just kept trying for Sakura? No, he couldn't do that. He knew he would never truly fall in love with Sakura, and she would most likely never give him the time of day anyway. Maybe the whole time he had been fooling himself. Using Sakura as an excuse to not get close to the Hyuga.

But he couldn't do that anymore. He was changing. Holding onto that part of his past wasn't going to help him grow. Whoever accepted the new him and respected the old him. They would be part of his future. Several people he knew were already going to be cut from his life.

'_I guess…this is it. Whatever happens from this point on…I can't look back.' _He created fifty shadow clones and began his final preparations for the chunin exams.

* * *

"Where the hell IS he?" Sakura's piercing voice roared from in front of the academy. Many participants entering the building gave the girl a deadly glare before continuing on their way. Sasuke grunted in annoyance at both Sakura's shrieking, and Naruto's tardiness.

"Maybe Kakashi-sensei's rubbing off on the dobe." He huffed. Thinking back to the day before, he remembered his teammate saying he was going to talk to that red-haired kid behind the academy. Sasuke had shown up, hoping to catch the conversation but the two only seemed to be standing there, staring into each other's eyes. It freaked him out for the most part, because they stood in place, unmoving for a half hour. Then they parted ways without a word, plunging the raven haired boy into confusion.

"Naruto-baka! Where've you been?" Sakura screamed, bringing Sasuke back to reality. Naruto had the same attire as the day before, though cleaner. His gaze was down and his attention seemed to be far from the chunin exams. Even Sakura's voice wasn't enough to bring the teen out of whatever thought he was having.

"Dobe, what's the deal?" Sasuke prodded. Naruto slowly looked up, a look of worry on his face for only a second before it was replaced with a passive look.

"Nothing. Has Kakashi-sensei shown up yet?"

"At your service!" Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves, eye smile in place. "Did you need me Naruto?"

"Yea…" A quick glance at his teammates and he sighed. "No. Just wondering if you had shown up on time for once." Naruto's tone was low and even, as if he were depressed. Because of this, it was obvious that he was hiding something. Kakashi rose an eyebrow, though he wasn't interested enough to prod further into the situation.

"Well, I'm glad to see you've taken a step towards becoming a real shinobi Naruto. Those dark colors will keep you hidden well!"

All three students sweat dropped.

"Is there any other reason you're here other than to annoy us sensei?" Sakura dead panned. Kakashi chuckled.

"Well, I was going to wish you luck. The first test will be in room 247. These exams aren't all fun and games. Your life will be in danger. I wouldn't have entered you if I didn't have complete confidence that you coul-"

"Save it sensei, we're late." Naruto interrupted and began to walk towards the building. Now Kakashi was alerted.

'_Something's wrong here…'_

Sakura and Sasuke looked after their teammate in shock. He was acting strange. Stranger than normal. Kakashi looked at the two and then back at Naruto. He couldn't confront him their without raising a ruckus. He'd have to wait, but he was going to find out what was going on. What could make the usually hyper active blonde so solemn?

"Well, get going you two." Kakashi faked a smile and waved, vanishing once again. Sasuke began walking towards the building, ignoring Sakura's attempts to ask him what he obviously didn't know. Neither could possibly understand what was making the blonde act the way he was.

Inside, Naruto stood waiting by the stairs. He was looking down a hall towards a large group of genin standing in front of a door. Sasuke and Sakura walked up, following his gaze to the group.

"Naruto-ba-" Before Sakura could begin screaming, Naruto had grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth.

"Stop being so loud or you'll draw unnecessary attention. Now go, the boss is upstairs." In a silent puff of smoke, the clone dispersed. Sasuke frowned, though part of him wanted to laugh, seeing the disheveled and fuming Sakura. Sasuke began to head upstairs, Sakura only following because it was…well, Sasuke.

Naruto stood in front of a similar looking room.

"Baka, what the hell was that stunt back there?" Sakura cried stomping forward with a ready fist. She swung…and hit air. In the next second, Naruto had her arm twisted behind her back and she was pinned against the wall. Sasuke's mouth dropped and Sakura grew motionless.

"Save your strength for the exams. And stop trying to hit me, or I'll start retaliating." All of his words were even. It made her shiver, knowing that he could give her advice and threaten her all in one tone. Her mind was far behind the thought process of the position he had her in.

"Dobe, we're already late! What the hell did you drag us up here for?" Sasuke called. Naruto pointed to the room number on the wall next to the door.

"That was the first floor. Kakashi sensei said the room was 247. I'm pretty sure everyone else just saw the group down there and instantly decided that was the testing room. You can't just follow the crowd or you'll end up dead." Naruto was once again subject to the shocked gazes of his teammates. Blushing slightly, he turned from them and opened the door.

They entered a wide room, full of chunin exam hopefuls. Naruto spotted Gaara instantly leaning against a wall. The sand genin nodded towards Naruto and Naruto nodded back ever so slightly. No one caught the movement. Naruto was about to begin scanning the competition until a blur of purple and blonde soared past him.

"SASUKE-KUN!" A voice almost as loud as Sakura's shouted out. Without even having to turn around, Naruto knew Sasuke's number 2 fangirl had latched onto him.

"Beat it Ino-pig!"

'_Yep. Ino.' _Naruto thought with a sigh. _'She's pretty much a female version of me with a bad obsession problem and a tendency for sadism...' _

"I'll gut you!" Sakura yelled out.

_'I take that back. Sakura's the sadist...'_

"Yo, Naruto! You guys made it too! What's with the new get-up?" Shikamaru lazily asked while lazily trudging forward, showing the world exactly how lazy he was. A few steps behind Shikamaru was his forever eating friend, Chouji.

This team, together, was a force to be reckoned with, Naruto knew. With Shikamaru's brain, Chouji's brute strength, and Ino's…well, loud annoying voice, they would definitely be an obstacle were they to come across each other. On nice terms, Naruto had his exact opinions about all three.

Shikamaru was the coolest person he'd ever met, hands down. Lazy as all living hell, but everything he did do, he made it look effortless. Plus the pineapple haired teen was also one of the only nice people to Naruto. They were good friends. He wasn't sure if he could beat the Nara in a one on one due to his superior tactical thinking.

Chouji was jolly. That was the only way he could describe him. (Mainly for the fact that Chouji tried to smash Naruto every time he called him fat.) They were friends because of Shikamaru, though they did have a few things in common, a.k.a Ichiraku's ramen. Without knowing what type of training he's been through, Naruto didn't know if he could win. But if Chouji hadn't worked on his speed, then Naruto would have no problem.

Ino. He almost rolled his eyes thinking of the girl. She may not have been as bad as Sakura, but damn she was almost as annoying. They had shared little to no interaction during the academy, except for eating lunch together once. And that was because she had almost passed out from dieting. He never knew if she really appreciated what he had done for her, and as of late didn't care. Sasuke was all she thought about. She would be too easy to beat.

"Hey, looks like the old rookie nine is back together again!" A series of barks followed the brash voice. Kiba and Shino walked towards the small group, Akamaru in its partner's jacket.

"Yo! It's dog breath and Akamaru!" Ino called happily. Kiba scowled at the blonde.

"Hey, where's Hinata?" Chouji asked. Naruto's eyes widened and he looked around, noticing that she was indeed missing.

"She said she would await seeing everyone until the exams have started. She has…undergone a change you could say." Shino spoke in his usual monotone.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, speaking for the first time since entering the room. Several of the genin jumped.

"Whoa, Naruto! Is that you?" Kiba asked. Naruto ignored the boy and looked at Shino for an answer to his question.

"It is hard to explain Uzumaki-san. Please await the exams to see for yourself."

Naruto frowned, hearing the saddened tone in Shino's voice. In the back of his mind, he had a feeling that whatever was wrong with Hinata was his fault.

"Naruto, what are you wearing?" Ino asked, actually detaching herself from Sasuke to his and Sakura's delight.

"Just normal clothes. Nothing flashy." He replied. Naruto walked away from the group, leaning on the wall. This brought up questions in all of the genins minds. Naruto didn't care for the looks, though he did catch Shino looking for a split second longer than the rest.

Shino had what could be called a silent friendship with Naruto. Until recently, he never knew what the boy was feeling. But now, just looking at small body movements, Naruto could tell what the bug user was feeling, if only slightly. With his clans techniques, Shino would be a big problem. He wouldn't be surprised if he had already put a bug on every single last participant in the room already.

Kiba was almost just like the old Naruto. The only difference was that he actually had his own strength to back up…_most _of his words. And he was ten times cockier. Actually, he was cockier now than he was in the academy. They were good friends in the academy but now, Kiba had followed the crowd. He was underestimating Naruto too. Because of his brashness, he would be a mediocre challenge, a little more than a warm-up for Naruto.

Naruto frowned as the last person was Hinata. In the academy, she had won every single sparring match against the girls. Actually she only ever lost to Sasuke. Outside of that, he didn't know any of her skills. He cursed himself, starting to understand why he should've been training with the girl. She was far too timid to actually utilize any of her latent abilities. But Shino had said she changed, and the way he spoke meant it was for the worse.

"Hey, you guys should be a bit quieter. You'll bring unnecessary attention to yourselves. You're making it obvious that you're new to the exams!" Naruto looked up to see a gray haired older teen talking to his friends. He didn't move, analyzing the newcomer. Something just didn't feel right about the teen. Naruto could have sworn he smelled snakes all around the boy. In his musings, he found out the teens name was Kabuto.

'_Gotta remember that. I've never seen him around the village at all. Maybe he's…'_ Naruto's thoughts trailed off. The sound of vomiting brought him back to his senses. Kabuto was on his knees, coughing up whatever had just occupied his stomach. A sound ninja wrapped in bandages stood over him. Naruto ignored what was happening, taking this time to move closer to the sand team since everyone else's attention was on his group.

"Pretty cold of you to ignore your friends like that." A female voice stopped Naruto in his tracks.

"Pretty cold of you to ignore your teammates in the midst of so many enemy ninja." Naruto called back, turning to face the girl. She was the sound kunoichi that had come with the other two. She had long dark hair and wore camouflaged pants.

"Why aren't you over there with the rest of them?" She asked with folded arms.

"Why do you care?"

"We aren't gonna get answers if we both stand here asking questions." The girl said with a smirk.

"True. To answer your questions, I have other things to do than entertain anxiety driven children. Now how about you answer my question." Naruto smirked back at the girl.

"I care because you're actually kind of cute."

"I'm flattered and impressed that you'd be so straight forward with an enemy nin."

"We're not enemies until the exams start right? Besides, you seem different." Her face became serious.

"How so?" Naruto asked, tensing at the statement.

"I don't know. Something about you is familiar…"

"Kin! Get your ass over here!" One of her teammates called.

"Shit. Got to go. I look forward to seeing you again." She said with a wave and ran to her team.

'_Fox, should I know that girl?' _

"**No. However, you are more connected to her than you know. When the time comes, I will reveal why to you." **

Naruto didn't pry further. He knew that the Kyubi was trying to keep him focused on the exams, so he would worry about the Kin girl later. Seconds later and the proctor for the first part of the exam had entered the room. Morino Ibiki, head of the T&I Division of Konoha's ANBU. He informed the genin that the first part of the exam was a written portion, consisting of nine questions, and in the end a final tenth question.

The genin began to file into another classroom, taking assigned seats. Naruto sat down at 4C and looked around the room as more and more people entered. Wolf whistles drew his attention to the back of the room and his eyes widened. Hinata walked down the row, her winter jacket nowhere to be seen. She was left in her black short sleeved under shirt and her black ninja pants.

'_Holy…her rack is HUGE!' _Naruto's jaw hung open, getting snickers from several of the ninja around him. In reality, they too wondered how a twelve year old could develop that fast.

Hinata never noticed the people around her due to her being focused on the paper she held. Her assigned seat, 4B…Her heart skipped a beat. Naruto's gaze made her blush, but it also brought tears to her eyes.

'_Why…why Kami-sama! Am I really to be punished so?' _She ignored his gaze and sat down next to him, hands in her lap and eyes on the desk. _'No…I don't care anymore…'_

"Hi…Hinata…" Naruto stammered out. She shifted slightly, gazing at him out of the corner of her eyes. She held a passive look, but it was just short of a scowl. Naruto felt his stomach sink. Hinata's eyes looked dead. She held his gaze for several seconds. Seeing that he had nothing to say, she looked away sighing in disgust. _'Okay, that actually hurt…' _

Naruto looked away as well. Now he was truly worried. The two didn't look at each other as the test rules were explained, the test were handed out, and even when silence enveloped the room.

Hinata felt like crying. She had told herself she would stop harboring feelings for the blonde, but it was getting harder every second. Just being around him was bad. The words on the paper began to blur as tears entered her eyes.

'_Why…why am I pathetic to you Naruto-kun?'_

No matter how much he wanted to fix things with the young Hyuga heiress, he knew he needed to focus on the test. Scanning over the paper, he almost immediately came to a single conclusion.

'_I can't do this shit.' _

It was impossible. Nothing on the paper had been taught to them at the academy. Of course, Kakashi had taught them jack-shit so that probably factored in as well. Seriously, the questions weren't meant for genins. So Naruto narrowed down the results to two single options.

Either they really expect us to answer this shit, and me, Sakura, and Sasuke are going to fail miserably because of a neglectful bastard sensei.

Or the more likely, they want us to cheat our asses off without getting caught, the way ninja would take a test.

Naruto was about to do exactly that until he noticed a smudge at the top right hand corner of the test. His brow furrowed and he looked at it closer. It looked like a tiny N.

'_What the hell?'_

Looking at the illustrations to some of the questions, he began to find more smudge like letters. At first, he thought they were typos, but then he began to put the letters together.

'_N.O.R.I.G…'_ He continued on until he could find no more. His eyes would have widened but he didn't want to draw attention to himself or be suspected of cheating. The message was clear.

'_No right answers…' _

"**Good, Kit. Good!" **

'_That's it? There are no right answers? Then what's the purpose of this crap then?'_ He paused. _'That really is it then! They want us to cheat without getting caught. Which means, someone here isn't a genin and has fake answers. They would know we were cheating without even having to catch us!' _

As time passed, Ibiki spoke up, prepared to give the tenth question. He sprayed bullshit about quitting now and taking the exams another year. Naruto paid it no attention, knowing that it was all lies. A majority of the room raised their hands and gave up on the spot. All of the rookie nine remained.

"Now then. On to the tenth question. Everyone that stayed…has passed." He smirked at the shocked expressions on the faces of the genin.

"What the hell? What do you mean we pass? What about the tenth question?" The Suna Kunoichi Temari asked, showing more frustration than she usually let show.

After an explanation on information gathering, Ibiki effectively made the genins lose their appetites. His head was covered in scars, and some looked ready to re-open at the touch of a feather.

"Sorry I asked." Temari groaned dropping her head to the table.

"Hinata, whatever I did yesterday, I'm sorry." Naruto whispered. The Hyuga heiress froze up, eyes widening slightly.

'_He's…apologizing?'_ The Hyuga heiress instantly went pale. _'He doesn't even know why I'm upset with him! Oh Kami-sama, what have I done?' _

Before the starry-eyed girl could explain herself, a blur of tan crashed through the windows. Two kunai lodged into the upper parts of room, revealing a banner over head.

"What's up chumps! I'm the deadly, sexy, Anko Mitarashi, and I'll be your proctor for the second part of the exams!"

Silence enveloped the room. Crickets chirped…getting Shino several glares from his teammates.

"Uh…too soon?" The special jonin sweated and looked at Ibiki.

"Like always."

Anko's demeanor instantly changed, and she smirked evilly at the group of genin. "Well, looks like we've got a decent turnout. Not too many, not too few. This is going to be fun! Everyone of you chumps meet me at the entrance to the Forest of Happy Kittens and Rainbows in half an hour!"

"Don't you mean the Forest of Death?" Ibiki asked.

"Exactly!" She called with a sadistic chuckle before shunshining from the room.

"Holy shit, that chicks almost as scary as my mom!" Shikamaru called, getting nervous chuckles from friends and foes alike. Everyone began to leave, save Hinata and Naruto.

"I need to talk to you Hinata." Naruto whispered. Hinata's gaze held his, and though she was listening finally, he could see that she still held indifference towards him.

'_She never hated me...that was foolish to think that. But why can't I figure out what's wrong with her now?'_

"Naruto…" Naruto's heart ached at not hearing –kun at the end of his name. "Forgive me. I may have misunderstood our positions yesterday. But please, give me some time to think."

"This is the first time you've actually talked to me." Naruto said, not wanting the girl to go.

"Wha…" Shock settled in as she realized that it was. She couldn't put together a sentence the day before but now here she was telling him that she wanted to be away from him. She looked away sadly.

"Hinata, for the record, I like you a lot. So if I gave you any doubts about that yesterday, I'm sorry."

"I figured." She said silently. "Just now, I had a feeling that it was all in my imagination." She laughed sadly, tears starting to fall. "I went home and told my father to go fuck his self."

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "You did what?"

"I thought that you thought I was pathetic. I thought that you were looking down on me too, Naruto." Wiping tears away, she looked at him. Her gaze was more calculating than before. "If you felt that way, then nothing else mattered. So I finally went off on my father. And you know the funny part? He acknowledged me for it! He actually said that I was acting like a Hyuga!"

'_Shit, I think she's lost it…'_ Naruto gulped.

"I started to think then. If acting like a Hyuga was the only way to get acknowledgement, then I should start acting like it." Her fists were clenched. "But you say that you like me now, and I'm wondering should I be happy and go back to how I used to be, or should I give up on you and continue to get the acknowledgement of my father…"

"Do both." Naruto said quickly, not wanting an answer to that statement. Hinata looked at him confused. "Hinata, don't give up on me. I know I did things wrong…I should've been there for you. It took me this long to figure out that the world doesn't revolve around me. I should've talked to you the moment I knew you were watching me train." The Hyuga blushed deeply, wondering how he could have known the entire time. "Be my friend and still get the acknowledgement of your father. If you proved yourself to him last night, then you know that you're not pathetic. You just needed to fall before you could truly stand on your own. I'm sorry that it was me that had to make you fall though."

Hinata's mind was developing like Naruto's now. She was thinking more than she used to. So analyzing everything Naruto had just said, she realized where her mistake lied.

"Naruto-kun, it wasn't your fault. I preemptively thought that you were looking down on me. I know now that you weren't and I'm happy for that."

"But…" Naruto added sadly. He was happy that she wasn't upset with him anymore but he was sure that she had more to say.

"You know what I feel about you." Naruto nodded at her statement, a small blush forming on both of their faces. "I can't…I can't pursue those feelings knowing that I'm only going to make you weaker. I want to get stronger, Naruto-kun, so I can be of use to you and to myself. As of now…" Her next words would haunt Naruto for the duration of the day. "We just aren't compatible."

He knew it was true. They both were waking up as ninja, a little too late. They wouldn't be able to do anything with their current conditions. Hinata needed to be able to stand up for herself more and Naruto needed to get stronger.

"Hinata-chan, I'm not waiting though. I don't want to go about like this. It shouldn't have taken so much for us to start feeling this way. Let's get stronger together, until we are compatible."

"Naruto-kun, I don't know what the future holds anymore. I had always thought that your determination would make everything better. But my doubts yesterday made that vanish. I can't go back to that anymore and the reality is that my future is going to lead to more pain." She shivered as the thoughts brought more tears to her eyes. Naruto was respecting her more and more. She wasn't blindly throwing herself on him how he thought she would've done the day before. For the first time, she was thinking of herself over everyone else.

"Hinata-chan, I can promise you that things will always get better, no matter how bad they get! If you want to look towards the future, then take my hand!" Naruto said extending his hand.

"Naruto-kun…"

"We may not be compatible now, but if we get stronger together, I want to be…" He trailed off, a blush crossing his face. Hinata turned red as well and took his hand.

"Until we're stronger, then we're just friends…" She said with a hint of sadness.

"Then you're still willing to be more later?" Naruto asked. Hinata's blush grew and she smiled, nibbling on the tip of her finger. Naruto smiled warmly. Seeing her do that reminded him of the sweet girl she was in the academy. He had caught her before she had completely lost herself.

"I don't know Naruto-kun… it depends." She said slyly.

"On what?" Naruto asked genuinely confused. A devious grin formed on her face.

"If you can keep the new me interested!" She said before rising and leaving a stunned blonde in her wake. Ibiki looked at the scene silently.

"Well, kid, looks like you got a game of 'hard to get' to start playing." He called with a chuckle. Naruto looked back and forth between the door and Ibiki.

"Fuck the chunin exams. This is gonna be much harder…"

* * *

**A/N: Well, it turns out, this chapter was...meh, to me. **

**Naruto: Well duh. First off, you skipped the scene where Rock Lee pwns Sasuke, thus, failing to introduce four important characters, you introduced a problem with Hinata and solved it damn near right away, you made Sakura less violent this chapter and overall, this chapter was just plain dull.**

**TSU:...Uh...first off, fuck you. Now, I skipped the Rock Lee part because Naruto had already come late, plus they didn't go to the fake room. Hinata's technically the second main character, so I'm putting more emphasis on her developement as well as Naruto's. Plus, I feel if Naruto rejected Hinata, she'd either kill herself or go off on the next person to say something wrong to her, a.k.a her father. I had to have Naruto talk to her because it wasn't too late to stop her from completely plunging off the deep end. Sakura was shocked that you of all people would threaten her, and by the time she remotley realized it, Ino was clinging to Sasuke, thus, taking her focus off of you. As for the chapter overall...well, compared to the last chapter it was quite dull...BUT! I needed to progress the story since I have so many things to introduce and so little time.**

**Naruto:...You better do better next chapter. I want to see me kicking ass! **


	3. Sudden Changes

**So many excuses, and so many truths, but who cares. I'm a college student, I'm working on two fanfics and three original stories all while having writers block, and I'm looking for a damn job. (No friggin luck) Take that how you want to, but I'll still be trying to get these up faster. **

**Chapter 3: Sudden Changes**

At the moment he wasn't very happy. Again, he found himself in a situation that he wasn't completely prepared for, nor had he taken into account when he decided to get stronger. Feeling really annoyed, he cursed himself for not doing a little digging into what the events of the exam would be. Nowhere in the last two days had he thought that he'd have to traverse the forest of death.

It wasn't that he was scared or felt that he wasn't ready. He was sure that using stealth, like any real ninja with common sense, would help greatly in surviving. No, he was pissed at the fact that he didn't pack anywhere near enough ramen for the journey.

"Is there anything that could happen today that's not complete bullshit?" Naruto groaned as he and his team awaited the proctor for the forest of death part of the exam.

"You should've studied instead doing whatever it was you were doing these past two days." Sakura shrugged, surprisingly not being as loud as usual. Naruto pegged it to him scaring the shit out of her earlier that day. It brought a smile to him, knowing that she was at least acknowledging the fact that he wasn't the same dead last he pretended to be several days ago.

"I was training. And that means you knew that we would have to do the forest of death didn't you." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the girl who looked away sweating.

"Yeah, but I learned after we met up yesterday. Sasuke-kun was the one who gave me the idea to look up the events!"

"Don't put me in it." Sasuke mumbled as he stood assessing the competition. Sakura paled and Naruto only shook his head in exasperation.

"I guess it doesn't matter now. As long as we stick together this shouldn't be too hard." Naruto said, still thinking of how much of a liability Sasuke's ego was going to be and Sakura…in general.

"Stick together? Stay out of my way and then this'll be easy. You might actually learn a thing or two about being a real ninja."Sasuke shot at Naruto. Sakura beamed, her inner self shouting agreements. Naruto held his head in frustration.

'You know what, if it weren't for the fact that this is a team exam, I would let them both get eaten by a snake that's sure to show up in there.' Naruto immediately frowned, looking around for several key people.

First, his gaze landed on Gaara. Gaara looked forward towards the gate, but his eyes were on Naruto as well. With a nod, Gaara faced away and walked towards his elder siblings.

Next, Naruto caught sight of the Sound ninja. Kin was sitting on the ground, seeming lost in the clouds as her two teammates were arguing about something vulgar that Naruto couldn't really pick up.

Third, Hinata stood with her arms folded under her breast, a stern, somewhat dark look on her face. Naruto could see a trace of the small smile that he had seen before, and a slight tint of pink on her cheeks. She hid it well, but he could tell that she was still a bit embarrassed for not wearing her jacket. She looked towards him and they both blushed, turning away just as fast.

Finally, Naruto's gaze landed on the grass nin team. None seemed to be paying anyone attention. Naruto narrowed his eyes but looked away before anyone could see him looking.

'A snake in the grass…' Naruto thought before sensing something off. A kunai was speeding straight for his face. On instinct, Naruto pulled his own out, deflecting the kunai in the air. With a quick hop and turn, he caught the kunai and held both up towards the throat of the assailant that was behind him. Of course, one Anko Mitarashi stood behind the teen shocked speechless. Several gazes about the crowd looked on in awe, none more so than his own teammates.

"Wow. And here I thought that you weren't paying attention." The special jonin said with a dark smile.

"Uh…heh, sorry." Naruto said putting his own kunai away and holding Anko's towards her. She took it with a smile and then slammed her fist into his gut. Naruto dropped to his knees coughing. 'Damn! She hits harder than Zabuza!'

"Never point a kunai at me unless you're prepared to use it." She whispered into his ear before licking the tip. She stood and returned to the front of the crowd.

"N-Naruto…are you okay?" Sakura asked, actually worried for her teammate. However, her gaze slowly shifted as a large amount of ki was radiating from somewhere off to their right. Looking over, they saw Hinata with her eyes closed and a tick mark on her forehead. Her brow twitched and she seemed to be tensed.

Naruto sweat dropped. 'Well, at least I know she's going to get what's coming to her.'

After Anko explained the rules for the next part of the exam and handed the students death waivers to sign, (bringing lots of smiles to the more sadistic genin) the students were positioned in front of several of the gates to the forest. A buzzer began to count down, dropping the surroundings into silence, and bringing anxiety to almost all present. Hearts began to race and sweat began to form. Once the last buzzer sounded, all of the participants dashed into the forest…except for Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura slowed to a stop several meters in.

"Dobe what the hell are you doing? You've been acting strange, and my tolerance is running thin!" Sasuke growled, eyes flashing sharingan. Naruto rolled his eyes at the Uchiha.

"You know, I'd be impressed that you just said more words than you ever have in your whole life if it weren't for the fact that your ego is making you think you have a tolerance level."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke shot back. Naruto sighed.

"Look, just shut up and wait a minute."

"Stop it Naruto! We're just wondering what the hell's your problem!" Sakura bellowed out. Naruto didn't entertain the two with a response again. Instead, he created a clone.

"Get Anko-chan and go to the Hokage asap." He said. The clone responded with a hai. Naruto jumped into the trees with his teammates and went right pass them. Sasuke and Sakura looked on in confusion and annoyance.

"What's he hiding from us?" Sakura wondered aloud. Sasuke just grit his teeth and growled, following after Naruto swiftly.

* * *

_**Outside Forest…**_

Anko had watched the whole little scene with mild interest. The blonde kid was proving to be good entertainment. Her curiosity was peaked when he dismissed his teammates and sent a clone for her. She grew a small smirk at hearing him call her Anko-chan.

'That kid is dead next time I see him.' She thought halfheartedly as she chewed on a dango stick.

"Well, let's go." The clone spoke to her and with a nod, she began to follow it. The kid new she was listening so it didn't even need to explain the situation yet. She was finding herself impressed more and more by the genin. If she didn't know any better, she'd think the boy was being influenced by his tenant, but the air of the demon wasn't about him at all.

"What's the deal brat?" She asked as they began to traverse the Konoha rooftops.

"There are ears everywhere. Wait until we get to the Hokage please." The clone responded dead seriously. This put Anko on edge and her mood instantly became serious as well. She looked ahead, a slight frown on her face.

'Yeah, this kid is definitely entertaining…'

She didn't ask anymore questions and the silence began to unease her. They reached the Hokage office quickly and used the shinobi entrance, a.k.a., the window.

"Anko-san, Naruto-kun, what is going on? Shouldn't you be at the Chunin exams?" The third immediately asked.

"Don't know. This is a clone of the brat, and he dragged me here saying it was important."

Naruto bowed. "Forgive me Hokage-sama, but this is an emergency. The boss-"

"Who?"

"The real Naruto. He met with the one-tailed jinchuriki this morning-"

"THE WHAT?" Both the Hokage and Anko shouted together. The clone sighed.

"Please let me finish. I'll answer any and all questions at the end." The two older shinobi frowned but complied. Anko was sweating, not knowing that there was another jinchuriki in the village while Sarutobi was on edge at the fact that Naruto knew about it.

"As I was saying, he met with Gaara this morning and learned of a certain person who's planning an invasion during the exams."

Sarutobi's eyes shot open but he remained silent. Anko sat down, taking in more information than she had been expecting that day. In all honesty, she thought the day would consist of eating dango and watching kids beat the living shit out of each other.

"The Ichibi has been preventing Gaara from sleeping, threatening to take over him at the soonest possible chance, but the Kyubi put an end to that."

Tension instantly filled the room to the brim.

"Before you start wondering, no, the Kyubi can't take control of me. We've come to terms with our fates and decided to make our existence together as least displeasing as possible. Oh, and did I mention he told me who my father was?" Anko rose an eyebrow as Sarutobi's pipe fell from his now gaping mouth. Anko narrowed her eyes at the old man.

"Wait, who's his father? By the look on your face, you knew and didn't tell him." She held a hint of venom, but it wasn't enough to get herself in trouble.

The Hokage swallowed and cleared his throat. "I believe Naruto has asked us to hold off questions until the end."

"Don't worry, Anko-chan. My father is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze." The clone spoke nonchalantly, making Sarutobi's head bang into the desk. Anko froze on spot.

"You say who did the what in the where?" Anko stuttered.

"Isn't it kind of obvious? I mean, we have the same eye color, hair style and color. I was born on the day he sealed the Kyubi into a baby and it was against the law to reveal who my parents were. It all sort of just falls into place don't you think?"

The Hokage began banging his head even harder while Anko just face palmed, mumbling something about stupid obvious clues.

"Naruto, please start over from the beginning. This is all so much to take in at once." Sarutobi said, folding his hands beneath his chin.

The clone frowned but began to explain everything that happened starting two days prior. Throughout the whole ordeal, Anko actually sat patiently listening to everything, and then the mood grew darker as Naruto neared his conversation with Gaara.

"For the first five minutes, Gaara freaked out about how I was able to enter his mind. The place was a mess, covered in sand and shit. That's when he showed me where the Ichibi was held. The Kyubi's cage is sealed tight, in a sewer like place, but I guess that's just my fucked up mind. But Gaara's…the Ichibi's seal was a rusted cell in an old decaying prison. Every time the thing lashed out at the cage, the bars rattled and Gaara held his head in pain. The seal was very, very weak. That's when our minds converged and we were standing between both the Kyubi's cage and the Ichibi's…"

* * *

_**Flashback...**_

"What is the meaning of this? What is happening?" Gaara looked between both cages, eyes wandering swiftly. He turned to Naruto and held his hand up towards him. The seal on the Ichibi's cage began to glow slightly as sand began to rise towards the blonde haired genin.

"Stop Gaara." Naruto said, eyes narrowed. The seal on the Kyubi's cage began to glow faintly as well, and flames began to swirl around the joined area. The sand began to burn into glass instantly and shatter.

"**You fool, you cannot face the Kyubi container inside of his own domain!" **The Ichibi bellowed in its annoying scratchy voice.

"The…Kyubi?" Gaara asked, eyes growing wide. "The Nine-tailed demon? You are a jinchuriki as well?"

"**It seems you have lost your touch Shukaku. You couldn't even sense me when we first met! Pathetic!" **The Kyubi laughed.

"**No fair! Why do you have to always be so mean?" **She yelled, thrashing against the cage and making Gaara drop to his knees. Naruto frowned.

"What's your problem?" He yelled at the monster.

"**Save it kit. She's losing her mind. Look at that seal."**

Naruto gazed at the sloppy kanji and saw that with each strike, it damn near became perfect. He frowned and wondered what was with it.

"**Can you guess the problem here?" **The fox said, hoping Naruto could evaluate the situation on his own. Naruto began to think, looking at the seal, and then the state of the Ichibi's prison.

"The seal…is poorly done. It's like the person knew how it worked but didn't care for the actual process of applying it. The Ichibi probably saw how weak it was and has been trying to escape ever since."

"**Yes. You saw how the seal on my cage prevents me from moving the bars even an inch. With the taste of freedom so close, she probably figured she could bust out if she tried long enough. Doing so each and every day, just to have that half assed seal come into effect must have torn at her sanity."**

"So it's not her fault?" Naruto asked, starting to feel a little remorse for the beast.

"**No, she's been an annoying bitch since day one." **The Kyubi laughed as Naruto face planted. But he was also impressed. Naruto was using his perceptive nature extremely well, and it was showing the true prowess that made his father famous.

Naruto still wasn't the brightest and was still a bit headstrong. His overall progression from two days prior was top notch, but he was still far from achieving his goal. Besides, it wasn't an overnight thing.

"Oi, fox, how do we help Gaara?" Naruto asked.

"H-help…me?" Gaara was still holding his head since the monster still thrashed about wildly. "Wha…why?"

"Come on, I can see what you're going through. No one should have to suffer like this. If your life was anything like mine, you've been beaten without knowing why, segregated, hated, and scorned by the people you cared about. Worst case scenario, people have tried to assassinate you right?" Naruto spoke calmly but his gaze held sorrow.

"You…as well?" The Ichibi had stopped thrashing, staring at the scene.

"It's our fates. And there are seven more people out there who are going through the exact same thing as we speak." Naruto knelt in front of Gaara and held out a hand. "Life is fucked up and sucks ass. As jinchuriki we have the right to want to crush anyone who comes in our way."

Both demons chuckled at the statement but Gaara looked up at the blonde confused.

"I'm not saying that's the right thing to do though. Don't you think it'll be a lot easier if you got people to accept you by being you instead of the demon, no offense." Naruto looked up at the Ichibi who only shrugged.

"But…after so many years…all I've done is kill! I'm but a weapon for Suna…they will never see me as more." Gaara hung his head but Naruto forced him to look up, releasing a bit of ki.

"Don't start this self-pity shit. I get enough of it when Sasuke gets those moods."

"**Heh, Uchiha pms…priceless…" **

"Shut up fox! Like I was saying, you won't ever know what people will think until you try. Most people in my village hate me because of the fox, but I've already made friends that accept me for me. Hell, even Sasuke considers me a friend sometimes. I bet your brother and sister worry for you all the time, even if you can't tell. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but if you don't try it will never happen."

The blonde paused and looked up. The ceiling of the prison gave way, turning into the open sky. The Ichibi's bars extended into the bright sky and began to mirror the Kyubi's.

"…**This is nice…" **The demon spoke as she looked around.

"**You don't deserve this." **Kyubi spoke and laid down, seeming to take a nap.

"Naruto…how have you been able to smile after going through so much? You know what it's like, so how?" Gaara folded his arms but tears were in his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening. He wanted to defend himself, but there was nothing to defend against. Even the Ichibi had calmed down.

"I smile because I think about how much worse life could be. No, I don't just grit my teeth and whither the pain like many people think I do. But I'm not going to make my situation worse than what it already is. I smile because I know that each and every day is a chance for me to prove them all wrong. To show them who I truly am. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Fourth Hokage and future Godaime Hokage." Naruto smirked at the title and suddenly a Hokage hat fell from the sky, landing on his head. Seconds later a Kazekage hat fell on Gaara's head.

"What…what is this?" Gaara asked, moving the sun cover to the side.

"You might want to have a goal or a dream too. It helps to keep you sane…well, she kind of went the opposite way on that one though."

"**I'm a wild animal kid, we don't like cramped spaces." **Shukaku grew defensive.

"**Aww, you sure it's not just because me and Hachibi used to stuff you in the Sanbi's shell all the time?" **Kyubi joked. (Sanbi= Three Tailed Turtle.)

"Wow Kyubi, you were always a dick weren't you?" Naruto deadpanned.

"**Dick's my middle name."**

"I don't know how that should be taken." Gaara said evenly. Naruto spun on heel eyes widening.

'Did he…did he just make a joke?'

Gaara scratched his cheek and looked away.

"**Kit, I would love to sit here and socialize since I truly am enjoying the company, but you have a bit more training to do before the exams. Let's get this over with now." **

Naruto groaned but nodded. He was honestly having fun with the two demons himself. (Weird right?)

"**Shukaku, you may not like it, but you will have to accept your fate. Escape is no longer an option from this child."**

"**Truly, I may have known it all along. But the sight of this damn worthless seal infuriates me! The accommodation of this place is terrible and the only entertainment I get is by having Gaara slay people. Can you blame me for being a little loopy?" **She sighed in defeat.

"If you're honestly not as bad as you've been these past few years, then you're not a little loopy, you've plunged off the deep end." Gaara spat glaring. Naruto chuckled.

"The fox was the same way, threatening to devour my flesh and such."

Both demons blushed slightly and groaned.

"**Give it a rest kit. Now down to business." **A calligraphy brush and ink appeared, falling into Naruto's hands. **"All you have to do is smooth the lines of that seal and add several that I tell you to."**

"**What? What are you doing?" **Shukaku asked.

"**Even though I think you're an ugly, fat, disgusting rodent, I'm going to make your imprisonment a bit more bearable. The rest is up to you and your container." **The Ichibi scoffed at the insult but didn't argue.

Naruto set to work, concentrating hard as it was the first time he was doing seals. Of course he wouldn't be able to duplicate them any time soon, nor would he have been able to do a seal from scratch. With the Kyubi coaching him it was made simple but it wasn't an art Naruto would be able to learn quickly, even if his father was a seal master.

"Is this it?" Naruto asked and got a nod from the fox.

"**Now I'm going to give you a bit of my chakra so you can power it up. Place your hand on the seal and begin channeling chakra into it." **

Naruto did as told. Blue chakra began to feed into the seal and the bars of the prison began to creak and groan. Soon, red chakra began to blaze around the seal and the bars shined like new. The bars extended and grew, making the cell itself bigger. Once it was done, it was just a bit smaller than the Kyubi's.

"Naruto…I can't thank you enough for this…" Gaara said as tears actually left his eyes. He wiped them away quickly, trying his hardest to hold his stoic demeanor. It failed as Naruto put a hand on his shoulder. "I…I haven't slept in years…"

"Then let's get out of here so you can get a quick nap in before the exams." Naruto stated with a smile. He was happy for Gaara. But more so, he felt like he had truly taken a step to becoming a great shinobi. Being able to help another person who was just like him…it brought the greatest sense of pride and joy to him that he'd ever felt in his life. To him, he had just become Hokage. Comparing the looks of Gaara from the day before and then, he knew that he had truly done something worthy of his father. Maybe even greater.

'This…this is what I want. This is how I'm going to live my life.' He thought proudly.

"Wait, Naruto. There's something that I must tell you though." Gaara said, finally falling back into his monotone, though he held a small smirk now. "My father, the Kazekage…he has allied with Otogakure in an attempt to stage an invasion against Konoha during the exams. They planned on using me to distract you all while he and a monster known as Orochimaru slayed the Hokage."

"Orochimaru? The Orochimaru of the Sannin that went rogue a few days before I was born Orochimaru?"

"Yes. He is in disguise as a Grass ninja but his ultimate motive remains unclear to us all."

'This is bad.' Naruto thought. 'There's no way in hell Konoha is ready for an invasion from both Suna and Oto…'

"What are you going to do Naruto?" Gaara asked, not knowing how things would play out. He knew even if Naruto went to the Hokage, it wouldn't change a thing. The pieces were almost completely set.

"I'm going to tell the Hokage, but not until after the exams have started. We don't want to draw attention from the wrong people. Plus, we should let the exams continue as normal to let your father and Orochimaru think that things are going exactly as they planned."

"**That's brilliant kit! You're thinking is becoming quicker."**

"I'm a fox, I'm supposed to be cunning." Naruto said with a grin. It was true. Though he didn't call himself a nine-tailed demon, he had to admit that foxes and strangely enough toads were his favorite animals.

"If that is all, then I would like to get some rest Naruto." Gaara called, drooping slightly. Naruto agreed and the two jinchuriki decided to part ways.

**_End Flashback..._**

* * *

Both the Hokage and Anko sat in both shock and horror. The story itself seemed so unbelievable but at the same time they could tell that Naruto wasn't lying. Feeling his chakra, they knew that he wasn't being influenced by the demon either. But both older nin also had their own lines of thought about the information that was just revealed.

The Hokage held a pensive look, staring sternly ahead. 'So Orochimaru and the Kazekage are staging a coup. I doubt that Suna would truly betray us like this so Orochimaru must be threatening them…This is most disturbing but Naruto's plan does seem the most viable. I can silently prepare my own forces, but research must be done first.' He sighed, knowing that he couldn't rely on the Kazekage's children without getting them killed. In the words of Shikamaru, this was very troublesome.

Anko sat silently, her eyes on the ground. Naruto looked over to her and frowned. From the research that he had been doing, he knew that Anko was the last apprentice of Orochimaru. 'I was only eight…' She thought gritting her teeth. 'Eight years old and in love with that son of a bitch…' Tears entered her eyes and her nails dug into the armrests of the chair.

"Anko-chan, I know how you must feel. The pain…" Naruto began but Anko turned a hard glare on him.

"How the fuck do you know how I feel? I was betrayed by that snake bastard! What the hell would you know? I was an orphan! I was alone and he was the only one that acted like he cared for me! What the fuck would you know about pain?" Anko stopped short as she saw the look on the genin's face. The clone stood and dispelled itself. Anko's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. Her heart actually hurt. The look on the face of the clone before it vanished was just like hers once she found out that Orochimaru had betrayed the village.

"Anko…" Sarutobi spoke low. "Be calm. Naruto is not one to-"

"Stop. I don't need any holier-than-thou shit, no offense. I'm a jonin and should have handled that better." She stood and bowed to the Hokage. "I'll go talk to him once he reaches the tower."

"You may have a chance to do so sooner. Because of the fact that Orochimaru is indeed in the village, we can't just allow him to have free roam in the Forest of Death. We'll need a covert surveillance group in there asap." He sat up in his chair, a dark look upon his face. "Orochimaru will not have his way."

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had been traversing in complete silence. The last two were thinking of their usually exuberant comrade and his newly found don't-give-a-shit attitude.

Sasuke was actually worried about the blonde, thinking that it was something they had done to make him act that way. He didn't respond the same to his taunts of dobe and even refused to make eye contact anymore. It was true that he and Naruto were bitter rivals, going as far as to promise each other they wouldn't die just so they could fight against each other one day. His Uchiha pride had always made him feel like he was better than him, but now he was wondering what could have made the blonde so distant.

Sakura on the other hand was thinking of how hard she was going to hit the blonde for being socially distant. Though she wouldn't admit it, she liked the way he doted over her. With all the times Sasuke had rejected her, she needed someone there to act like they cared for her. She was still too naïve to think of what her rejections would do to the jinchuriki.

Suddenly, Naruto dropped down into a clearing. His two teammates followed swiftly, anxious to see what the problem was.

"What is it now dobe?" Sasuke asked, though with less criticism.

"Go on ahead." Naruto stated darkly.

"What do-" Sakura began but saw his fist clenched tightly. She saw his shoulders trembling, as if he were about to cry. "Naruto…what's wrong?"

"Just…go." He called, his voice quivering and laced with malice. Sasuke felt his building ki and swallowed. Sasuke walked over to Sakura and grabbed her arm.

"Let's go." He said.

"But…what about-" Sasuke shook his head. He jumped into the trees and Sakura followed. She looked back only to see Naruto's hair blocking his face.

Tears fell slowly.

As his two comrades left his view, he turned towards a tree to his right.

"I know you're there. Just come out and do what you need to do." Naruto spoke bitterly.

"Amazing that you were able to sense us! I wonder if your flames of youth burn as bright as Sasuke's!" Rock Lee shouted as he landed in the clearing.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked as he never let his guard down. TenTen and Neji followed behind Rock Lee.

"We're Team Gai. I'm TenTen, that's Rock Lee and this is Neji." The girl spoke, giving Naruto a warm smile. Neji turned away coldly.

"That Sasuke person has gone ahead Lee. We have no reason to be here with fodder."

Naruto's brow twitched. "Fodder?"

"That is most unyouthful Neji-kun! My deepest apologies…"

"Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said before flashing through hand signs and creating a dozen clones. Team Gai jumped back, getting into their battle positions.

"Hey, what are you doing? We didn't come here to fight!" TenTen called.

"…" Naruto was silent. Neji noticed that he wasn't looking at them and activated his byakugan.

"Neji!" TenTen gasped. He held a finger to his mouth. Naruto nodded.

"We're surrounded."

* * *

Hinata, Shino, and Kiba had made it a good distance into the forest, deciding to make it close to the tower before they began to acquire the opposite scroll. They landed in a small clearing, Hinata scanning the area with her byakugan before giving the sign for clear. Kiba instantly fell to his back, Akamaru laying on his chest.

"Man, I'm beat! We haven't traveled that fast since that day Kurenai-sensei caught us peeking in on the hot springs." He called with a chuckle.

"Correction. She caught _you _peeking in on the hot springs." Shino said as he settled down for a quick rest as well. His gaze left his uninhibited comrade to settle on their female partner. She was standing still in a pose that he hadn't seen before. (Sixty Four Palms Defense) Her eyes were closed and she held one hand in front of her face in a single hand sign. Shino's bugs began to stir unpleasantly. "Hinata, what is it you are about to do?"

Kiba looked over as well as he saw Hinata stock still, deep in concentration. "You okay?" He asked.

The wind began to blow and leaves began to drift all over the clearing. As many of them surrounded Hinata she slowly put both hands out to the side. Shino stood up as Kiba just looked on confused.

"Shino, what's going on?" Kiba asked, moving to a sitting position. Shino's bugs grew irate.

"A defense and offense that can even stop my kikaichu." He said almost as a question.

Hinata's eyes flared open, byakugan instantly activating. Suddenly her arms became blurs and the leaves around her began to be shredded to bits faster than the normal eyes could see. Hinata's face contorted into rage as she tried her hardest to keep the jutsu going. Her arms were beginning to slow as sweat dripped from her face.

Her two teammates watched in stunned silence as she finally stopped, dropping to her knees.

'It's still not good enough…' She thought, tears entering her eyes. 'I won't be ready to face Neji without it…'

"Hinata…what was that?" Kiba called out in amazement.

"That is unlike any technique I have seen before. Did you create that?" Shino asked.

"Yes. It's supposed to be a counterattack to swarm techniques…and to the sixty-four palm jutsu of my clan." She breathed out. "I've been working on it for several months now, but I haven't had the time or the skill to finish it."

"But you just diced those leaves to bits! That's amazing!" Kiba shouted.

"Keep your voice down, Kiba." Hinata said as she moved to a sitting position. Her chest bounced slightly, making Kiba hold his nose in fear of blood. "I neglected my training. That technique should have been done by now."

Shino frowned and faced away from his teammates. His analysis of the attack showed that she had used very little chakra when she started. From what his bugs told him, she used two extremely thin chakra blades and used her flexibility to move them at extreme speeds in a three hundred and sixty degree rotation. His bugs were dead scared of the technique, and she did say it was a counterattack to swarming jutsus. The only drawback that he saw was that Hinata hadn't kept it going for very long.

"Hinata, that was acceptable. The skill level and nature of that attack greatly increase the effectiveness regardless of the time that you can sustain it for."

Hinata nodded. "That's nice, Shino-kun, but my goal is to be able to move while performing the technique. In that sense, I'm sorely behind."

Shino nodded, seeing as how that was a problem. He had no advice to give her, seeing as she was probably the best close ranged fighter out of all three. Kiba was a mid-ranged fighter and of course he was the long ranged. Hinata was technically their first line of defense.

Even with Hinata's training, Shino was worried for the girl. She hadn't completely changed, but she was much different than she was a few days prior. He didn't want her to do anything that she couldn't handle, and her new attitude, though more worthy of being a shinobi, was not going to be able to cater to her emotions as well. She seemed more distant than before, and from the start of the exams, she seemed to rarely smile. Hinata was like a little sister to him so this truly upset him.

"Hinata…what is the reason for your sudden change in attitude?" Shino asked bluntly. Kiba frowned as they gazed upon Hinata. The Hyuga heiress herself looked down and crossed her legs.

"It's nothing. Just a few misunderstandings is all." She replied.

"Misunderstandings with whom?" Shino asked. Kiba sighed and laid back down.

"Naruto."

Hinata blushed and rose an eyebrow. "How would you know that?" She asked.

"Honestly, I don't think there's anybody in the village who doesn't know you have a crush on him. If you're acting differently so suddenly, it has to have something to do with him. Besides, you and him were the only two left in the academy after the written exam." Kiba called.

"What happened between you two?" Shino asked.

"Since when were you one to bother about my personal life Shino?" Hinata snapped, getting surprised gazes from both of her teammates. She looked away, slightly angry. "I'm sorry…but it is truly none of your business. I understand that you're worried for me but there is nothing to concern yourself over. Me and Naruto-kun have settled things already."

"Whatever you say, Hinata." Shino said and ended the conversation. Kiba looked sadly at their partner. Hinata frowned too but stood to walk the opposite direction. She hadn't meant to snap at him like that but she didn't want them messing with what she was trying to do. If they knew about her and Naruto trying to get stronger for each other, they'd try to help her. She was sick of people thinking that she couldn't do anything on her own.

With both teammates on opposite sides of the clearing, Kiba looked back and forth between the two. With a sigh, he hung his head. "This is going to be a long day."

**A/N Honestly, I want to apologize for putting this up so late. I had actually typed this last month, but hoped that my writers block would go away so I could do a better job. In truth, I like this chapter less than the last one. But since it's getting warmer, I should be getting that creative spark back. I planned too far ahead for the story and didn't take the time establish a transition from the written portion to the tournament part of the exam. (Fail, I know.) **


	4. Despair Once More

_**Yo, people. Hope you don't think I forgot about my epic baby. Come on sweethearts, I wouldn't just leave you like that! Ok, so I had a three month affair with a girl named life, but I told you, you were the only one(s) for me. Don't worry, I'm back and ready to give you that pleasure you oh so missed.**_

_**(However, do note that I typed this chapter under the most heavy authors block I've ever experienced. I can't even fathom what you all will think of this one.)**_

**Chapter**** 4: Despair Once More**

"This is why we don't let you lead on missions." A young teen with glasses and short black hair called. He sighed and scratched his head as he looked around.

"Well excuse me! I didn't expect to get lost from just going FORWARD!" A girl just as young, short turquoise hair with a ruby clip called. She had on a red and white tank top and white forearm protectors. She wore white baggy pants that slightly hung off her hips and wore her forehead protector on her arm like Shikamaru.

"Would both of you shut up. I'm trying to sleep!" The third and last member of the team called. He had on a long white shirt with a short blue jean jacket over it. He wore blue jeans and wore his forehead protector around his neck like a collar. When he opened his eyes, the irises were yellow and his pupils were slit like.

"Seriously, Train! Do you have to do that creepy eye thing right now?" The first teen called.

"Shut up, Uriu." He shot back, his eyes returning to their natural brown. The young girl sighed and fell to her back.

"Aww man. At this rate, I won't be able to get any ramen today!" She called and her stomach grumbled. Both of her comrades sweat dropped.

"Uh, Fuu…you ate twelve bowls before we got here. Mr. Ichiraku was crying tears of joy on how much of _our_money you spent." Uriu said pushing his glasses up.

"Yeah, he said it was amazing that there was someone else in the village that could eat as much as...what's that kids name? Naruto?" Train finished. He dropped down from the tree he was sitting in and stretched.

Fuu's stomach growled again. She looked up at her two teammates with fake tears streaming down her cheeks. "FEEEED MEEEE!"

Suddenly, Uriu paused, turning on spot. "Be quiet, someone's coming." He instantly jumped back into some bushes, Fuu and Train following swiftly. Seconds later, a team, (Naruto's team) dropped into the clearing they had just entered. They watched silently as the short one with blonde hair seemed to get upset and tell his two teammates to go on ahead.

"What's up with him?" Fuu whispered but neither of her teammates responded. She frowned and rose an eyebrow when they didn't answer and turned around. Looking back, she found both of her teammates bound and captured by enemy ninja.

* * *

In the clearing, Naruto now stood with Neji and the others. Tenten looked around startled, finally registering the many chakra signatures around them.

"Surrounded?" She asked, placing a hand on her weapons pouch. Naruto quickly pulled a kunai and chucked it to his left.

"Most likely shadow clones." He said as he jumped back as the area where he had thrown his kunai exploded. 'But that would mean our enemies are well beyond genin level...it has to be Orochi-'

"HEELP!" The voice of a young girl came from somewhere within the forest, stopping Naruto before he could continue his assault. It was enough time for the enemy to show themselves. The grass nin team from earlier dropped down from the tress, revealing that they were indeed clones of each member.

"Well, this just got a whole lot easier." Tenten said with a small smirk.

"Foolish girl! You shouldn't underestimate us, unless you want to end up like this team." The nin threw Fuu and her team down in front of Naruto and the others. Naruto gazed down at Fuu, who seemed to be in pain. He frowned for a second before a smile began to overtake his face.

"Wow. You guys really did fuck up." He said as he began to take several steps back. Team Gai rose eyebrows at Naruto's demeanor.

"**So ****you ****sensed ****it ****too ****kit****?" **The fox asked inside of his mind. Naruto mentally nodded, seeing the girl growing angry on the ground.

'But we can't let her have all the fun.'

"Hey, Lee! I bet I can take out more than you in five minutes!" Naruto goaded. This instantly got a reaction as the bushy browed teen's eyes burst into flames.

"How youthful to make this into sport! I shall accept your challenge Naruto-kun! And if I cannot defeat more than you then I shall do a thousand curls. And if I cannot do a thousand curls I will complete the rest of the chunin exams while carrying Tenten on my back!"

A second later and a mace had collided with the back of Lee's skull.

"Like hell you will!" Tenten shouted.

"It seems they are ignoring us!" The grass ninja with his eye covered like Kakashi said. The others agreed by chuckling sinisterly.

"An action they won't live to regret!" The leader said through his…gas mask?

"Hey Fuu, you okay?" Naruto asked the girl as she slowly undid her own bonds. Looking closely, he saw that she had what appeared to be a wasp stinger protruding from her wrist.

"How do you know my name?" She asked startled.

"Shichibi. He and Kyubi are good acquaintances." He said naturally. Fuu cocked an eyebrow.

"So you are a jinchuriki. I couldn't be sure. Well, what's your name?"

Before the two could continue their conversation, the army of grass nin clones began to rush in. Naruto and Fuu turned, getting back to back. A spark shot through them both, making their eyes widen.

_'That was weird.'_ They thought simultaneously. Naruto could hear the fox laughing inside his head for an unknown reason. He ignored it and prepared for battle.

As the first nin came into range of Naruto and Fuu, Naruto felt the girl relax her body. She took one step forward, and let loose a barrage of blinding punches and kicks onto the enemy. The clone seemed to be convulsing, not even having time to disperse as the small girl continued her attack. Looking into her scarlet eyes, Naruto saw that she had become emotionless. It was a skill that he wished he had, but because of some of the repercussions, had never tried to achieve it. Locking away your emotions while you're fighting makes it so you won't hold back, but it also tends to get the better of your senses. Going all out against a friend could hold deep consequences, physically and emotionally. With a final spin kick, Fuu sent the clone flying and dispersing into a silent puff of smoke.

Naruto looked over to Team Gai to see them dispatching of the clones, quickly and efficiently. Lee was tearing through them as if they were paper while TenTen made his jaw drop by how beautiful and fluently she handled two kodachis. Neji was swiftly spinning about his opponents, apparently jabbing at their body. Naruto rose an eyebrow as he noticed that it was the same way Hinata fought in the academy, albeit much faster. Looking at all four of the people around him, having fun with their would be ambushers, Naruto felt a pang of guilt rush over him.

He had just decided to get serious while these guys had been serious all along. Even by the way Fuu was going about decimating her foes, he knew that she had never played around with her future.

"NARUTO, LOOK OUT!" Fuu shouted and dived on top of him just as large snake soared over his head. Naruto looked up with wide eyes as the snake landed behind them, turning to face its prey. The snake was as big as car and about 30 meters in length. Naruto scowled, both at losing his focus on the battlefield, and at forgetting key factor in the chunin exams. He faced the grass nin team just to see one of their members dashing off in the direction that his own team had been going.

_'That's him...that snake bastard...'_ Naruto groaned inside his head.

"Naruto." Tenten called. "You two take care of that snake while me and the guys finish these clones off. Think you can handle it?"

Naruto gave a thumbs up to the bun haired girl. "No sweat."

"You sure?" Fuu asked. "You just spaced out and if it weren't for me, you'd be getting digested right now."

"Oh shut up." Naruto replied, getting a cute giggle from the girl. He was even more impressed that even while in battle, she could still hold onto her emotions while trying to lock them away. This girl was strong, but being a jinchuriki meant that you had to be.

"Shall we?" The girl asked, holding her arms out, indicating for Naruto to go first.

"Yes, we shall." Naruto elegantly pulled a kunai and flipped it reverse handed. Fuu held one up right in a fighting stance. They darted towards the snake, crossing in front of each other as they went. The snake eyed the two hungrily. Since Naruto was the first to reach the beast, it struck down at him. Naruto threw the kunai into the air and then used a substitution jutsu. He appeared in place of the kunai high above the snake. The snake's fangs embedded into the ground, giving Fuu time to jump on its head and then leap upwards.

Naruto grabbed the girls hand and spun, slinging her even higher into the air. Fuu threw her own kunai into the air above her so that Naruto could once again substitute and appear so high in the air, the snake seemed like a small worm. Flashing through hand signs, Naruto held his fingers to his lips. Fuu smirked as she began to move her hands and form chakra. The chakra burned red until it burst into a ball of flames in her hands. She winked at Naruto.

"**Fuuton: Kaze Yari!" (Wind Javelin)**

"**Katon: Ryusei Aki!" (Meteor Fall)**

Naruto blew the powerful stream of wind down towards Fuu's ball of dark flames. When the wind collided, Fuu spun, slinging the now blue flames even faster towards the ground. The all out inferno roared and seared even the air as it sped towards the waiting snake. The resulting impact created a huge explosion, sending a shock wave out in all directions. Team Gai was just about finished with the clones, however, once the blazing attack hit the ground, they were forced to move swiftly to escape the blast. The remaining clones in the clearing were incinerated, and some of the forestland around the area was reduced to ashes.

Naruto began to fall back down towards the blazing ground. Looking at Fuu, he saw that she had two fast beating dragonfly wings on her back. She caught Naruto's arm and slowly took them to the others that were waiting. Seeing the shocked looks on the others faces, Fuu retracted the wings and looked away sadly.

"What...what was that? How are you two so strong, and why did she just have wings?" Tenten called. Fuu's head was down and she bit her lip. The looks they were giving her were just like that of her own village. Fear and confusion.

"It's a kekkei genkai. She's a distant relative of the Aburame clan." Naruto explained. Fuu's head shot up and she stared at Naruto with wide eyes. Naruto had a small smirk on his face. She looked back and forth between Team Gai and Naruto.

"A...kekkei genkai?" Neji asked skeptically.

"Yeah. My parents were from Takigakure, before it turned into Amegakure. (Rain Village)." Fuu said, trying her hardest to play off of Naruto's bluff with a truth.

"Oh right! I remember dad telling me that some of Konoha's ninja were sent to Takigakure after the first war. Most of them stayed to make sure the village could be rebuilt!" Tenten noted. Neji closed his eyes and folded his arms, apparently accepting the answer.

"My parents...died after the war. My father couldn't take care of me and my mother died after giving birth to me." Fuu said sadly, making Naruto frown.

He knew all too well the pain of growing up without parents, on top of being a jinchuriki. For some reason, he felt that he and Fuu had a greater connection than anyone he had met in his life. Her mannerisms, her posture. They were all similar to his. But as her skills show, she probably had it worse than he did.

The sound of groaning caught all of the genin's attention. "Excuse us, but can you untie us now?" Train called as he and Uriu were sitting back to back by Rock Lee. Lee knelt down and undid their bonds.

"Who are you guys?"

Uriu straightened his glasses before clearing his throat. He walked over to Tenten and knelt before her, grabbing her hand. "Milady, we are but a humble team of genin from Amegakure! We are here to assist you, and should be regarded as tools in the presence of a beauty such as yourself."

Suddenly Uriu froze up as Fuu jabbed him with a sharp stinger protruding from her wrist. He fell over and Fuu began to drag him away by his leg. "Come on Casanova, we get enough of this in our own village."

Tenten sweat dropped but blushed non-the less. It was rare for anyone at all to hit on her, so it actually just made her day a whole lot better. She held her head up a bit higher, unbeknownst to her two teammates.

"I hate to cut this short, but I have a feeling that my team is in over their heads right now." Naruto called, preparing to run after his team and the 'grass ninja' that had gone ahead. When he turned, Fuu suddenly grabbed his wrist. Naruto faced the girl to see her with a slight blush and uncertain look on her face.

"You...you sense it too, don't you?" She asked. Naruto looked at the worry in the girls eyes and once again saw himself in them. He smiled warmly at the girl, hoping to ease her worries even if just a bit.

"Yeah, but I have no intentions of fighting it. I promise."

The girl looked at him for a second longer, still unsure. What confused her even more was the fact that she was worried about this person she had never met before. Maybe it was just because they were both jinchuriki, which would have been a likely and plausible reason. However, she felt something more than that. Something about him, and him alone, made her want to be there by him. With a sigh she stepped next to the blonde.

"I guess we don't have a choice now do we?" She asked in fake exasperation.

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Uh...Fuu, what are you doing."

"What does it look like? I'm coming with you."

"But you said yourself, it's something up ahead-"

"That I won't let you take on by yourself. You saved me and my team so now it's time for me to help you out." The smile that she gave Naruto reminded him too much of Hinata's and he found himself looking away with tinted cheeks and scratching the back of his neck.

"Naruto, what are you two-" Before Tenten could finish, Naruto and Fuu darted forward, going a speed that made Rock Lee's flames ignite once again. Pulled by the urge to catch, or best the two, Lee threw himself forward as well. Having no other choice in the matter, Train, Uriu, Tenten and Neji began to follow at a leisure pace.

As the two darted side by side, Naruto and Fuu glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. When their eyes met, everything around them seemed to fade.

* * *

"**Ah, here are the two honorable bastards now!" **The gruff voice of the Kyubi boomed as Naruto and Fuu appeared between two similar cells. It was obvious, once again, that the Kyubi's cell was bigger. However, the seal on the Shichibi's cage seemed to be in perfect condition.

"Do I even want to know what you two were talking about?" Naruto dead panned. He gazed over to Fuu's cell to see the Shichibi hovering by six extremely fast beating wings. The monster was a large blue beetle with six wings and a stinger, which indicated seven tails. With a large horn on its head, and two freakishly large arms, the monster looked more grotesque than anything Naruto had seen in his life, including the Ichibi. But, outside of appearances, Naruto could feel a strong sense of pride radiating from the demon.

"Long time no see, shithead!" Fuu called to the demon with a wave.

"**And to think I was starting to miss your company." **The Shichibi feigned hurt and chuckled along with the Kyubi.

"So, do you guys have a history, like with Kyubi and the Ichibi?" Naruto asked. The Kyubi shrugged.

"**Nah. We just liked to beat the shit out of each other once in a while." **

"**What do you mean beat the shit out of each other? You used to whip my ass from the Bunta's castle to that damn snake's lair."**

Naruto and Fuu couldn't help but laugh at the demon's unfortunate friendship with the Kyubi. When things began to grow quiet, Naruto saw the two demons eying him. He looked between them both in confusion.

"What? Something on my face?" That's when he turned his gaze to Fuu, to see the girl eying him somewhat...dangerously. The Shichibi folded its massive arms.

"**Emotions cannot be hidden inside of the mind."**

"**Kit, run for it!" **

Naruto swallowed as he saw Fuu lick her lips. With a gleam in her eyes, she jumped towards the blonde, pinning him to the ground in one swift movement.

"**Honestly, she reminds me of the Nibi." (Two-Tailed cat) **The Kyubi said with a shiver, though with a hint of reverie.

Shichibi nodded his head in agreement. **"I think she would have made a better tenant than I." **Then the demon grew a small smile. **"And I think you would have much more preferred to meet the Nibi today than myself."**

Everything went silent again, including Fuu, who still had Naruto pinned to the ground and was only an inch from his face. Both genin looked up towards the Kyubi to see the already red fox...blushing!

"Oh, no way!" Naruto called through fits of laughter. "You...you've got a crush on the Nibi?"

"**Kit, I will give you nightmares until you're sixty-six if you don't drop it right now." **The Kyubi huffed and then turned to the other cage. **"And now I remember why I used to beat your ass all the time! You couldn't keep your damn mouth shut!"**

"**Hey, by the time you told her anything, the Gobi would have had her eating out of his paws!" (Five-tailed wolf)**

"As entertaining as this may be, Fuu we need to get back now!" Naruto slowly inched the girl from atop him, getting a sad groan from her. He stood and offered the turquoise haired girl a hand. The girl grinned and faded away without taking his hand, leaving a stunned blonde in her wake. "Uh...I'm in trouble aren't I?"

"**Kit, between the nice Hyuga girl and Fuu, you're a dead man."**

Naruto held his head in frustration as he began to fade from his mind. "I'm not with either one of them and shit's gonna hit the fan."

* * *

Out in the real world, Naruto and Fuu slowed to a halt as they came to a clearing. Naruto instantly frowned as the 'grass nin' he was after was nowhere in sight. Instead, he found Sasuke unconscious on the ground, Sakura with a kunai in hand, as well as having her hair cut, and the three sound nin, Kin and her team, facing the beat up girl. In the three seconds it took for Naruto to register the scene, his anger flared. In the blink of an eye, he dashed into the clearing, sliding to a halt in front of Sakura.

"What the fuck is this?" He growled out. Sakura's eyes widened as Naruto appeared seemingly from nowhere. Her eyes took in his features, his stance wide and his hair blowing beautifully in the wind since his hitai-ate hung from the back of his cargo pants. His dark blue shirt had the sleeves trimmed neatly where he had torn them. Her confusion of Naruto's attire and her curiosity in it was over shadowed by the joy she felt from seeing her teammate. She began to sob lightly.

"N-Naruto..."

"It's alright Sakura. I won't let them hurt you anymore." Naruto spoke darkly. Everyone whom had come with Naruto watched the scene from their positions around the clearing. Naruto could even feel Shikamaru and his team nearby. Naruto eyed the three sound nin in front of him. His glare pierced all three them as his eyes began to tint from blue to red.

"Naruto..." Kin whispered, taking a step back.

"Is that the sharingan?" The mummy like one asked to no one in particular.

"I'm not waiting to see!" The last one shouted and held his palms forward. There were holes in his hands and he laughed hysterically as he blasted a sound wave at Naruto and Sakura. The ground exploded where Naruto had just been, throwing dust up all around the clearing.

"What just happened?" Uriu asked, worried for the blonde that Fuu seemed to have taken a liking to.

"He dodged it, but why is he so fast?" Neji spoke with a bit of venom. Naruto's speed rivaled, if not surpassed that of Lee's at that moment, with his weights on. Neji wouldn't have thought it possible, especially by someone he knew was considered the dead last of that year's graduating genin class.

In the clearing, Naruto stood on a branch of the tree where Sasuke's body was resting. He held Sakura bridal style, his gaze still set as stone on the three below him.

"Fast little punk." Zakuzu called and aimed his palms up at Naruto. He began to fire rapid sound waves. Naruto would seem to vanish and reappear on another branch, still in the same position with Sakura along for the ride. The pink-haired pre-teen was beaming. The wind blowing through her hair as Naruto sped around the moves made her feel like she was flying. She hadn't yet noticed his eyes.

"Stay still dammit!" Getting frustrated, the sound nin threw a kunai with an exploding tag up at the tree. Naruto tossed Sakura upwards, making her yelp ironically girlishly, before flaring through hand signs and inhaling deeply.

**"Fuuton: Kaze Yari!"** The wind javelin tore the tag to shreds, as well as deflecting the kunai. The bladed wind slammed down right in front of Zakuzu, knocking him off his feet. Naruto caught Sakura again without so much of a twitch. This time, Sakura did notice his eyes. Her gaze turned to a bit of confusion and horror. His shining red eyes may have been pretty, but the feral glow of them chilled her.

The blonde dropped down to the forest floor. He walked over to the indentation of the tree and set Sakura down, ignoring the way her eyes never left his face. He slowly walked back to his initial position as the tense sound team eyed him warily. They were all having second thoughts.

"Naruto..." Kin whispered again. His eyes frightened her beyond anything she had felt in her life. When she was directly in his sight, she completely froze.

"Why are you attacking my team?"

For a second, all she could hear was the silent whistle of the wind as it slowly began to build in the forestland. The rustle of fallen leaves grew louder and the smell of both nature and ninja began to overload her senses. Naruto's question slowly began to register, but all she could do was gaze upon his glowing red eyes. The wind pushed leaves past him, and it looked as if nature itself refused to touch the boy. The overhead canopy cast rays of light throughout the clearing, yet none of the pique light touched the blonde jinchuriki.

"Stand aside, dobe." Sasuke's voice snapped Kin from her fright induced stasis. But she almost fell right back into at as she caught sight of the Uchiha. Black flame like markings were spreading over his face and arm. A sickening purple chakra seemed to be flowing around him. She knew what that meant. Sasuke was using Orochimaru's curse seal.

"Sasuke..."

With both the Kyubi's chakra and the tainted chakra of the curse seal bellowing in one area, everyone around felt the cold air of death wash over them. Even Fuu fidgeted as the mixed chakras made the Shichibi writhe in his cage. No one except for Fuu knew exactly what they were looking at in that clearing.

"Go sit with Sakura so you won't get hurt." Sasuke chuckled as he flexed his fingers. The power flowing through his veins felt unreal. He felt as if he could kill his brother ten times over.

Naruto grimaced as his nose burned. The overwhelming smell of decay and snakes filled his nostrils. It was all wafting from Sasuke. Sasuke's sight set onto the sound team. When he took one step forward, Naruto appeared right in front of him.

"Get out of my way Naruto. I'm going to make them pay for thinking they could attack us."

"Sasuke, that power you're using is bad for you."

Sasuke paused. Then he began to laugh. "How can something that feels so good be bad for me? Get out of my way dobe, or I'll kill you too."

Naruto didn't move. Him and Sasuke stood face to face, neither blinking. Naruto's calm gaze and Sasuke's hysterical smirk sent shivers down the spines of all who could see them.

"Fuu...is he...you know..." Train started whispering. Fuu's eyes showed sadness but she nodded anyway.

"Yeah. He's like me."

Naruto sighed as he knew Sasuke wasn't going to back down on his own accord. He was going to have to force Sasuke to calm down, and by the feel of his chakra that wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

The Hyuga heiress sighed deeply as she stood atop the surface of a small pond she had found a few hundred yards away from the clearing where her teammates were. She just wanted to calm down and clear her mind. She had removed her black undershirt, revealing nothing but a fish net top, albeit, she had wrappings over her chest. She kept her pants on, knowing that should anyone find her, she would be damned if she gave them a free show.

Her mind drifted to the recent event in the clearing with her teammates. She shouldn't have went off on Shino like that. At first, she was planning on going to apologize to him, but knowing Shino, he would ignore her until he had cooled off for a bit. So she was going to give him his space and time, and use her own time to cool off a bit. She wondered what Kiba thought about the little tirade.

_'He's probably pissed at us both...'_ The pre-teen thought. Kiba was all about teamwork and companionship. Though he was arrogant, Shino and Hinata knew the real him. The him that would do anything to protect his friends. When she had compared him to how he was in the academy, she was surprised that it was usually Kiba the one calming the other two down when things went wrong on missions and such. If only he could feel that way about their _other _comrades.

"Byakugan!" Hinata cried suddenly, trying to focus her mind on her current position. She sighed heavily and slid her right foot forward over the water. Not a single ripple appeared. It was as if Hinata was gliding over the water instead of standing on it. Then she dipped her foot in, creating only one ripple. After a second of standing completely still, she spun, creating a wave of water all around her. The water seemed to slow down as her eyes took in the 360 degree environment. She created the chakra blades again and began to cut at the water. Perfect lines of the water began to form and as fast as she was going, it looked as if she were creating a pattern in the water. It was like art, the sun casting shadows on the water in the form of whatever slashes Hinata had made to the water wall.

Then almost as suddenly as she began, she abruptly stopped, dropping to her knees on the water and panting heavily. The shredded water wall collapsed back into the pond as just a few drips. Hinata moved to a sitting position on the water, having enough chakra control to do it almost effortlessly. She tilted her head back and took in deep breaths. The technique was more draining than she let show, especially after performing it several times throughout the day. If it weren't for the fact that her team kept dozens of soldier pills, she would never be able to get a good amount of practice in.

After several minutes of rest and staring up at the clouds, something she learned to enjoy after watching Naruto and Shikamaru do it sometimes, she stood and ate a soldier pill, ready to continue her practice. However, several swift moving chakra signatures caught her attention and she instantly activated her byakugan, jumping back into bushes and out of sight. Several seconds later, a group of five ninja landed on the lake in a blur and continued forward with no signs of slowing. Hinata's eyes widened as she saw that the person leading the group of ANBU was their proctor, Anko Mitarashi.

_'That's the lady that hit Naruto-kun!'_ She frowned up at the memory and bit back a curse. More approaching chakras from behind her were detected by her byakugan, and she knew it was her teammates.

"Should we follow?" Shino asked in his normal monotone, apparently having cooled off enough. Or at least, he wasn't upset enough to let his feelings get in the way of something potentially important.

Hinata nodded and dashed forward after the Special Jonin and ANBU, her own team going as fast as they could. _'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'_

* * *

With Anko, she flew through the forest at such an alarming rate that even the ANBU had trouble keeping up with her. Her eyes were narrowed, but her chest heaved, her fear only evident by this action.

She was scared.

Orochimaru was a sneaky son of a bitch, and now she had just learned something that would make the genin kill themselves upon finding this out.

He had two chakra signatures.

She didn't understand what that meant at first. When the Hokage explained to her that his sensors had picked up two separate chakras, both belonging to Orochimaru, she had thought that maybe it was a kage bunshin. But when he also told her they were not distributed chakras, and indeed fully intact whole signatures, her stomach grew light. Her mind instantly drifted to the fucked up experiments that he had performed on her, long ago.

_'So what has he done now? And to who?'_ She thought as she bounced off of the side of trees, showing the ANBU just how agile and flexible she was when need be. Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt several signatures following behind them. She groaned, picking it up as a genin team. With a sigh, she landed on a tree that was coming up in her way and pushed off of it, dashing past the ANBU, leaving them in confusion as she soared backwards and almost collided with Hinata herself.

The Hyuga heiress yelped and slipped on the branch she was just about to land on, but a hand grabbed her wrist, using her falling momentum to swing her parallel to the branch, upwards and then letting her land on unsteady feet. When her daze was gone, she looked up into the serious face of Anko Mitarashi. Instead of her usual smirk, she held a worried look, as if she was wondering what to do with the Hyuga girl. Kiba and Shino landed on the branch behind Hinata. Anko folded her arms.

"You kids shouldn't be following us. Something dangerous is up ahead, and I don't have time to try and protect you. Go east and try to head to the tower as soon as possible."

For a moment, Anko sighed in relief as it seemed as if the Inuzuka and Aburame were indeed going to take her orders unquestioned, like true shinobi. However, the young Hyuga still had her bloodline activated and she was looking in the direction the ANBU continued to travel. The girl seemed as if she were straining herself to see further than was naturally allowed by the kekkei genkai.

"Hey, kid, are you listening?" Anko put a hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Naruto-kun...what's happening to him?" She whispered to herself, though all present heard.

"Naruto?" Anko's eyes widened. That brat was starting to become a pain in the ass already. Without another word, she turned and followed after her ANBU, forgetting all about the genin behind her.

"Hinata, what's wrong with Naruto?" Kiba asked worriedly. He wouldn't admit it to his face, but Kiba still held high respect for Naruto, even if he was known as the dead last. Anybody who tried to stand up to Sasuke on a constant basis was either a brainless dumbass or had balls of steel. Naruto fit both categories.

"He's...his chakra...it seems so...demonic! And so does Sasuke's!"

"It would be best to avoid them." Shino added bluntly. Hinata's gaze turned to Shino, shocked. Kiba even glared at their partner.

"Shino, they're our friends! Well, at least Naruto is!" Kiba spoke before Hinata could go off, which for some reason, she was doing a lot more lately.

"But if the ANBU and that woman is involved, it is far beyond our control."

Hinata turned from Shino angrily. She knew his cold logic, but she never felt this angry about it before. Shino was known to make the wisest decisions among them, but it left a lacking luster when it came to other teammates. Now that she thought about it, maybe their team was far too introverted. They cared for each other, but held their other comrades in far less of a light. And the sad part was it was Kurenai-sensei's fault. She never had them socialize with the other teams after graduation. She never even mentioned the others outside of telling them what they needed to do better. They may have been genin cells, but they were all ninja of Konoha. Their allies, all of them, were the most important part of the village. She would be having a talk with her sensei when this was over.

"I don't care what you say Shino, but I'm going to find out what's wrong with Naruto-kun. You can tuck tail and run if you want." She spoke with as little venom as possible, trying not to make their already falling teamwork collapse completely.

"Hinata, whatever has happened to make you change so is truly intimidating." Shino removed his hands from his pockets. "Why do you insist on being so distant?"

Hinata bit her lip. She didn't mean to sound distant. She just wanted to prove that she could make choices, and do things on her own. It seemed like everyone was making mistakes today. Shino stepped in front of her.

"We'll go to Naruto, but I want a full explanation of what's going on when we arrive at the tower. Beyond being comrades, and teammates, I am your friend Hinata, and I don't want to see you in such conflict with yourself. I am worried."

Kiba grinned, happy that Shino had finally came out and said what he was truly feeling. Hinata had successfully pushed the boy to show some emotion.

"Alright..." Hinata replied. The Hyuga heiress was actually at a lost for words. Shino rarely, rarely, showed any type of emotion. And to do so while they both knew they were upset was nothing short of a miracle. She smiled, starting to remember how important both Kiba and Shino were to her. Even if she wanted to do things on her own didn't mean she needed to push them away. "Let's go."

* * *

Ino Yamanaka was not easily scared. On several occasions, mainly around Halloween, Shikamaru and Chouji, and sometimes even her father would try to play pranks on her to get any type of reaction. All the times, she had brushed them off as petty annoyances. Never once had she even flinched.

So why was she scared shitless now?

The two people standing several yards in front of her were people she had thought she had known for several years now.

You had Sasuke. The boy with dark eyes that seemed to suck you in, skills that would make the average genin drool, and he was an Uchiha, making him every girls fantasy.

Then you had Naruto. The kid almost as loud as Sakura, with ocean blue eyes that she secretly knew shined in the sunlight, too bright a shade of blonde hair, but ironically no longer wearing the 'Scream, aim, fire' orange jumpsuit.

So what was wrong with this picture?

Right, Sasuke had just threatened to kill Naruto with some weird purple chakra swirling around him and Naruto's eyes were glowing red...not in any memories she had of either one.

"Shi...Shikamaru...what the hell is going on here?" The Yamanaka diva asked, eyes and mind trying to both fool themselves into making a logical explanation to what was being watched.

"The hell should I know?" Shikamaru replied but his eyes were glued to the scene as well. Their last partner sat behind them, mouth agape and chip in mid travel to his mouth.

The young girl's thoughts were swiftly trying to break down the scene, the way any Yamanaka would, however, several missing key factors just made figuring it out impossible. Why was Naruto's eyes glowing and what the hell was happening to Sasuke? Without even a clue as to what was going on, she couldn't fathom an answer.

Then there was the fact that Sasuke had just threatened to kill Naruto. As far as she could tell, Naruto had arrived and gotten the situation under control, which was surprising by itself. A lot of things had been worrying her ever since they started these damn chunin exams.

First was the new appearance of Naruto, which she did analyze regardless of what the others thought. His attire, along with his attitude were obviously different. He was acting much more serious than he had in the academy. And from what Sakura had been telling her, he was acting more different than he had been a week ago. Then when she saw Hinata, she KNEW something was wrong. People don't just change like that over night...do they?

Though she didn't have much time, she looked at herself before they entered the Forest of Death. From what she could tell, she had changed the least out of everyone. Sure, she had built up some of her skills by training with Asuma-sensei and her team, but she spent more of her time trying to look good and thinking of ways to woe Sasuke.

But her world had just been shattered.

Sasuke, no matter how gorgeous she thought he was, had just threatened to kill his own teammate. Now, if she hadn't seen all the changes as of late, Ino probably would have dismissed the comment. However, since the chunin exams started, her brain had been working overtime, finding more questions than answers. By now, anything dealing with Sasuke was like looking at a video game you want to play but having much more important things to do.

So the latest surprise to grace Ino Yamanaka was herself thinking,

_'That bastard! What's his problem?'_

Her eyes immediately widened. _'Did I...just call Sasuke...'_

She shook her head, writing it off to the stress of the exams finally getting to her. Naruto baka was annoying, so maybe Sasuke was just trying to shut him up...no, even she couldn't make an excuse like that for him. When this was over, she was going to need a very, VERY, long rest. Because this was one hell of a reality check.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke still faced each other, Naruto using the few seconds he had to formulate any way to calm him down or subdue him in as little time as possible. Nothing seemed like it work with no knowledge of what was happening to Sasuke. All he knew was that he had a power that had obviously come from the snake-bastard Orochimaru. Where the bastard went was beyond him, but he was fast enough to get in and get out before even the ANBU could show up.

"What's wrong dobe? Scared yet?" Sasuke's left wrist twitched and Naruto knew he was out of time. He jumped back just as Sasuke brought up his left hand, a kunai coming upwards as well, aimed at slashing Naruto in the face. Naruto landed in front of the sound team, making Kin fall to her butt. She looked at the back of Naruto's head as her body shook violently. She couldn't move.

"Shit, let's get the fuck out of here! Come on Kin...KIN!" The bandaged one shouted. However, Kin seemed to be frozen in fear. He growled and began to dash away.

"Wait, we're just gonna leave her?" Zakuzu called following after his partner.

"Hell yeah. Let her die on her own."

Naruto heard the two but decided to keep focused on Sasuke, who was now stalking forward with an arrogant smirk, the kunai held lazily in his hand. "So you're protecting enemy ninja now, Naruto? Doesn't that make you a traitor?"

"I'm not the one who attacked a comrade." Naruto spat back calmly. "Now stand down Sasuke, or I'll defend myself and turn you over to the Hokage when this is over."

"As if. I'll be turning your body into the morgue." Sasuke's eyes seemed to darken as he activated his sharingan. He licked the kunai, much like a snake, before dashing forward towards Naruto. Naruto parried the first strike with a kunai he had been preparing to pull out. Catching Sasuke off guard with the block, he thrusted his shoulder into Sasuke's abs and pushed him backwards several feet. Naruto threw the kunai he held in his hand towards Sasuke's feet, forcing him to jump back even more.

**"Fuuton: Kaze Yari!"** Naruto fired the drilling wind towards Sasuke's feet once again. However, he frowned as Sasuke copied his hand signs and put his fingers to his mouth.

**"Fuuton: Kaze Yari!"** Sasuke repeated back and fired Naruto's own move towards him. Instead of aiming at his feet, Sasuke aimed at Naruto's chest. Naruto didn't have a chance to move and was sent hurtling backwards, the front of his shirt ripping to shreds from the powerful wind. Naruto put a hand on the ground and pushed himself up, flipping him over Kin so that he wouldn't hit her. He landed on his hands and knees right behind the sound kunoichi. She flinched but otherwise didn't move. "Good. I'll kill you both at once!** Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu**!"

Sasuke inhaled once more and unleashed large ball of flames towards Naruto and Kin. Still frozen in fear, Kin stared straight forward as her death seemed imminent. Naruto growled and scooped the girl up in his arms, much how he did with Sakura and jumped straight up. The fireball scorched his foot and collided with the trees behind them, igniting a blaze just like that. Naruto landed several yards to the right of his initial position, however, he dropped to one knee and set Kin down as a sharp pain shot through his burned foot.

"Still weak, dobe. Don't tell me that's all you've got after all the big talk you did earlier."

_'I can't go in like this...not with the fox's chakra...'_ Naruto thought to himself. He was about to try to stand again until he felt a tug on his arms. He looked down into the crying face of Kin.

"Tha...thank you...Naruto-kun." She said before passing out due to shock. Naruto nodded, even if the girl couldn't see him. He glanced to his left.

"Fuu, come get her." He called in a dangerously low tone. Without a question, Fuu darted out of the bushes she had been hiding in and towards Naruto. Sasuke saw the girl and rushed towards her. In the instant that Sasuke had appeared in front of Fuu, Naruto had appeared at Sasuke's side. The sheer speed that they both were showing caused less trained eyes to blink in disbelief.

"She didn't do anything!" Naruto called driving his fist into Sasuke's face. Sasuke left the ground, soaring backwards but regained his balance in a flip. Naruto winced again as he landed on his burned foot. Fuu, though she was startled by Sasuke's sudden attack, continued on to grab Kin and then head over to where Sakura was watching in horror. Fuu turned to Naruto with sad eyes and a pain in her heart. She knew what he was going through right now. Fighting a teammate all the while trying to keep himself from going insane from using the Kyubi's chakra. She wanted to help, but she didn't want to be a burden to Naruto.

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded, glancing between Fuu and the unconscious Kin. Fuu frowned at the pink-haired pre-teen. After being attacked by enemy nin, she couldn't blame the girl for being suspicious. And knowing this, she took a sitting position between Sakura and Kin, to keep her from doing anything she'd regret.

"A friend of Naruto's." Her gaze remained on the battle between Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura seemed to relax a bit, but the feeling of the destructive chakra's put her on alert again.

"Why is Naruto doing this?" Sakura whispered, though from the tensing of Fuu's shoulders, she had heard.

"What are you talking about?" Fuu asked, not turning towards the girl.

"Why is Naruto attacking Sasuke-kun?"

For a moment, Fuu felt like back handing the girl, but held in her anger, for Naruto's sake. "Didn't you hear that Sasuke kid threaten Naruto? This is just self-defense! And if anything, Sasuke's the one that's been attacking this whole time!"

"No! Sasuke-kun just wanted to protect me!" Sakura called urgently. Fuu shook her head in disgust.

"Are you stupid? Naruto was the one protecting you, or did you forget that? He had the enemy on the ropes until Sasuke got up!"

Sakura was prepared to retort, but having enough of this conversation already, Fuu jabbed her in the arm with the same stinger that came from her wrist. Sakura yelped but fell asleep soon afterward. Fuu growled at the girl.

_'Great, now I'm in a bad mood AND hungry.'_

* * *

"What was that? You call that a punch?" Sasuke chuckled at the glare Naruto shot him. "This is more boring than I'd thought it'd be. I guess I'll just end this now!"

Sasuke darted forward again, making hand signs faster than most chunin could.** "Katon: Housenka!" (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower)**

The dozens of smaller fire balls seemed to hit their mark and kick up dirt and smoke as they slammed around Naruto as well as hit him. Sasuke charged right into the dust cloud. He wasn't out of sight of the others for long as he came charging out of the opposite side of the smoke cloud, holding Naruto up by the throat. He slammed Naruto into a tree, holding him pinned with one hand.

Fuu's eyes widened at the feral look in Naruto's eyes. He snarled, struggling against Sasuke's grip. The swirling dark chakra only seemed to grow around Sasuke, the marks spreading until they covered more than half of his body and his sharingan was a sickly yellow.

A confused look formed on Sasuke's face as red chakra began to bubble around Naruto. His whisker marks grew darker and his hair seemed to grow just a bit, or maybe it just became spikier. Naruto's grip on Sasuke's wrist grew, and the Uchiha winced as he was forced to let Naruto's feet touch the ground. He tried to tighten his grip but Naruto slowly overpowered him, pushing his hand back. A flare of red chakra covered Naruto, though it didn't have a definite shape.

"What...the hell are you?" Sasuke growled out as he was the one struggling to shake Naruto's grip now. Naruto's anger didn't seem to subside, even with the chakra no longer growing around him.

"Maybe...I'm what you want to be." Naruto spoke darkly before pulling Sasuke by his wrist into a vicious knee to the gut. A loud crack was heard around the clearing, as it was obvious Naruto had broken something with the force of the blow. In the process, Naruto had also dislocated Sasuke's wrist. The Uchiha was in too much pain to even scream, and settled for dropping to his knees.

The boiling red chakra that had been surrounding Naruto slowly began to dissipate. Naruto took deep breaths as he gazed at Sasuke's cowering form, the marks of the curse seal fading as well. Naruto looked around, feeling more than seeing the gazes of the other genin around him.

"**Naruto..." **The Kyubi started in his mind. However, the blonde's gaze fell onto Fuu. The fear in her eyes reflected that of the villagers before they began to attack him. **"Calm down, Naruto..."**

Naruto's breathing quickened. He could only picture the gazes of all the others on him. Instantly, chants of 'monster' and 'demon' began to play in his head. He held his head in pain, not wanting to be seen like that again. Not by his friends.

**"Naruto, it's not like that!"**

As if he hadn't heard him, Naruto darted from the clearing, taking the only route that seemed unoccupied by eavesdroppers. And just as Naruto left the clearing, Anko, the ANBU, and Hinata's team landed.

Anko looked around startled, sensing Naruto's chakra getting further and further away. The other genin teams began to make themselves known, each one by one coming from their hiding spots.

"Shit, what the fuck happened here?" Anko demanded the confused and scared looking genin.

"Hey!" Fuu's cry attracted her attention as the ANBU held the girl down with her arms pinned behind her back. Sitting in an indentation of a tree with an unconscious leaf nin while another was currently gasping for breath and damn near broken on the ground didn't look good for a kunoichi of another village. Anko was definitely not in the mood for games and swiftly walked over to the downed girl. She pulled out a kunai and held it to Fuu's throat, bringing protest from Train and Uriu before the glare she shot them effectively silenced them.

"What the fuck happened here?" She demanded again.

"Sensei, don't! They had nothing to do with this! If anything, that girl helped the situation!" Ino was the first to cry out.

"That bitch didn't help!" Sasuke gasped from on the ground, still clutching his stomach, but also his neck. Once again, Anko's attention was drawn elsewhere, and to Fuu's relief, she dismissed the girl. However, the ANBU did not release her.

Anko stormed over to Sasuke, kicking him to his back and ignoring the howl of pain it caused him. She moved his hand forcefully and felt her stomach drop at seeing the handy work of her former sensei on the boys neck. She sighed as half of her fears were confirmed.

"Shit...shit, shit, shit, shit!" She growled out, having the urge to cut the skin from Sasuke's neck just to prevent looking at the damned seal.

"Ano, what's wrong sensei?" Tenten asked, sending worried glances in the direction Naruto had ran off to. Anko looked around the confused genin, finally registering that this confrontation as much too public for her liking. She looked back at the ANBU.

"Get them their damn scrolls and escort them to the tower. Have medical nin waiting and alert their Jonin-sensei's. Separate the Uchiha to his own quarters. Keep the Amegakure team under surveillance until you contact their sensei and alert the Hokage of the new issue."

"What about this girl?" One of the ANBU asked, motioning towards the still unconscious form of Kin.

"Keep her with the Ame team. Get moving, now!" Anko ordered and the ANBU began to round up the genin.

"Where's Naruto-kun?" Hinata demanded as the ANBU tried to herd them away.

"Don't worry." Anko spoke without looking back. The worried look in Anko's eyes surprised Hinata. "I'll find him. I promise."

Hinata wanted to argue more, but found it in her best interest to stay silent for now. Something big was going on, that much was for certain. She silently nodded her thanks to Anko before following orders and heading away with the ANBU and the other teams.

Anko waited until the ANBU and genin were out of sensing distance. She bit her thumb and flashed through hand seals before slamming her palm to the ground and summoning a house sized snake. She jumped on its back and issued a simple command of go as the snake darted forward into the brush after Naruto.

"That brat!" Anko called aloud though she didn't mean to. She grit her teeth as she could feel his chakra up ahead. But it wasn't why she was in such a rush.

Naruto was headed straight for Orochimaru.

* * *

**A/N: For those of you reading both this story and Beyond The Horizon, (And for the three of you who probably read Break Me Down), I'm trying to rotate the updates effectively, though that's easier said than done. BTH is almost done, which is the reason I started BMD. HWND is going to be the longest story I have, and I probably won't be done with it for a couple of years. (Yes, I plan on making this epic length.) So, if anyone plans on sticking around for the rest of this story, make yourselves comfortable and throw in your insight! This stories future has many branching paths, and everything is not what it seems. **

**On another note, the whole Orochimaru deal is going to be much more complicated than in canon. I found it hard to believe that Anko couldn't tell that he was disguised as a genin and he was easily permitted into the Forest of Death. That's just plain laziness on Kishimoto's part. So the deal with him having two chakra signatures is a testament to how devious Orochimaru is going to truly be in this story.**

**If I forgot any characters that anyone wants to see, let me know and I'll be sure to try to fit them in when possible. (This does not mean I'm adding more girls to the harem. I'm honestly still trying to figure out how I'm going to handle the ones I already have.)  
**

**Now for a final note, I will personally shout out the person who can figure out what anime Train is from. (It shouldn't be that hard.) **


	5. Underlying Fear

_**Hope Will Never Die...but one of many paths in which the world takes determined by simple yet significant changes be they one or many, big or small. All it takes is one domino to make the rest tumble...**_

_**Hope Will Never Die/ Uzumaki Naruto: Path divergence, Before Chunin Exam. Changes, anxiety increased due to higher expectations of self. Confidence tripled but noble ties severed to many, including his teammates, but lasting bonds tightened to point where any doubt holds significant meaning. Mannerisms more calculating and colder. More changes yet to be determined...**_

_**Hope Will Never Die/ Hyuga Hinata: Path divergence, Before Chunin Exam. Changes, old persona almost shattered. Confidence more than quadrupled but trying to balance old emotions with new ones causing friction to all around her, and doubts within her changes. Mannerisms far more calculating, though focuses mainly on self and Naruto. On the brink of adopting obsessed, and distant persona. More changes yet to be determined...**_

_**Hope Will Never Die/ Yamanaka Ino: Path divergence, Before Forest of Death. Changes, mind focusing on everything she values due to the fact that she understands that she has changed the least. Thoughts becoming more truthful and she is beginning to see the bigger picture. Mannerisms shifted from 'fangirl', however path has yet to be acquired. More changes, if any, yet to be determined...**_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Underlying Fear**

If you would have said something weird was happening...she would have completely agreed with you.

It had taken her all of two minutes of being in her brothers company to know that something had changed. If the less glares, and wetter environment due to no sand conjuring was any indication, she'd say that hell had indeed frozen over.

"What?" The monotonous voice of the person on her mind asked.

"Uh..." What the hell was she supposed to say? Hey Gaara, its been over a day since you've killed anyone, want to talk about it?

Ever since he had went to have that talk with that blonde kid, Naruto, he had seemed a bit...a LOT more refined than normal. Hell, for the fact that he was refined in itself was a miracle. He hadn't threatened her nor Kankurou at all. He hadn't said one word of 'mother' and he definitely hadn't killed anyone since they entered the Forest of Death. In a nutshell, Gaara wasn't acting like...Gaara.

Their sensei Baki was too busy to notice anything different. The jonin didn't want to have anything to do with the group in the first place. He was focused on the mission at hand, which was plotting behind Konoha's back. Much good that would do, seeing that if Gaara was acting differently after talking with a KONOHA ninja, then they were probably already compromised. Not that she would care though. She had no grudge against Konoha, albeit, she felt they were arrogant and lazy bastards.

"You look like you swallowed a bug." Gaara simply stated, making Temari's eyes widen. Sitting to their left, Kankurou was in the middle of messing with his puppet when his hands stopped moving and his mouth dropped open, just like his sisters.

'Did he...did he just make a joke?' They thought simultaneously. They couldn't tell, seeing as his face remained as stoic and passive as they'd ever seen it.

"Gaara..." Temari flinched as his gaze instantly landed on her at the sound of his name. She rubbed the back of her neck as she sat with her legs hanging from the side of the branch they were on. "You...is everything alright?"

Gaara cocked an...well he...did something with his face to show confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Temari gulped. She couldn't understand why she felt no malice when he spoke. Now it was her turn to cock an eyebrow in confusion. She would word these next words carefully. "You don't...want to hurt anyone?" Okay, so that wasn't so careful, but Gaara's not so murderous attitude was REALLY throwing her off.

And now for the icing on the cake, the one moment that would leave Temari completely speechless, Gaara smiled.

"Well, I do want to hurt Kankurou for not showering this morning, but by the time this is over, we're all gonna need the water." Gaara dropped down from the tree, ready to continue on towards the tower after being fully rested. Temari, as stated, was completely and utterly speechless. Kankurou's jaw, if possible, went even lower. Then after a moment, he rose an arm and sniffed.

"Ew. He's right."

* * *

Naruto dashed through the forest as fast as he could with his burned, but slowly healing foot. The tears in his eyes were slowly drying as he focused more on the pain in his foot than the pain of feeling isolated from Fuu and the others. He was starting to get upset that the fox wouldn't heal him as fast as he usually did. After going several hundred meters in silence, he slowed down near a clearing, landing just on its outskirts in a tree.

"What the hell, fox!" He cried out.

"**Oh, so I take it you are willing to listen now?" **

Naruto frowned and sat down, rubbing the reddened appendage. He set his hitai-ate on the branch next to him and held his foot in his lap.

"What? What the hell do you want?"

"**You need to calm down and go back. How could you expect Fuu not to be worried when you were using my chakra? How could you expect the others not to wonder what was happening? They weren't just scared of your chakra, they were scared of Sasuke's as well, while Fuu just hoped you wouldn't lose yourself."**

"Fuu...Fuu wasn't scared?" Naruto slowly stopped his massaging. He gazed upon the ground in front of him. He had impulsively assumed they were all scared of him...just like how the villagers were. It wasn't the group as a whole, since he knew that people would always fear him for his burden. Others would see him as a weapon and others would border the line between those two, and acceptance. For all it was worth, he didn't give a shit. He just didn't want certain people to see him in that light. Hinata, Fuu and her group, Shikamaru, Chouji, and maybe even Lee and his group. The others didn't really matter.

"**No kit...Naruto, we have company."** The fox growled inside of his mind. **"And I can't read his mind..."**

And with that, Naruto knew self repentance time was over. He stood up and slowly drew a kunai. 'Where is the chakra signature? Why can't I sense it?'

"**It's far too high level for a genin such as yourself Naruto, and that is no insult. Do not stay here! Even with my help, if you want to stay sane, you will die!"**

Now Naruto was scared. No matter how strong he had become in those two days, no matter how much training and effort he had put in, if the fox said he would die even with his help, then he needed to go, and fast. Without even needing to sense it, Naruto had a feeling that he knew exactly what the chakra signature belonged to.

"Naruto!" A female voice, though with a much more feminine undertone than he would have imagined called to him from behind. He turned around to be met with the sight of a dispersing giant snake and an extremely worried looking special jonin by the name of Anko. The young sensei landed right in front of the blonde, not even two inches from him, letting him get a view of her cleavage that most men would kill for.

"Anko-sensei! We need to-"

"I know. Come on, before he-"

"Ah, how good of you to join me, Anko-chan, Naruto-kun."

"Shit." Both Naruto and Anko muttered. The bristling feeling of Naruto's hair standing on end was enough to let him know that he and Anko were in deep shit. Slowly turning around, Naruto came face to face with one of Konoha's biggest threats. Anko put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and squeezed slightly.

"Orochimaru. What an unpleasant surprise." She called, though Naruto could feel her hand shaking a bit. He looked up into her eyes and saw the swelling of different emotions. She was trying her hardest to stay calm and keep her emotions in check, however, the fear was evident.

"I'm hurt, Anko-chan! You didn't want to see me?" The snake bastard slowly made his way to the center of the clearing. Naruto was almost frozen in fear as the man leaked killing intent. If it weren't for the Kyubi unleashing its own for Naruto, he would have probably tried to commit suicide on the spot. The man folded his arms and smiled, showing Naruto exactly what the devil looked like.

"He's...Orochimaru?" Naruto breathed out. He couldn't believe it. He was nowhere NEAR ready for something like this. Anko's gaze never left the sannin as she formulated what to do. There was no way they'd be able to out run him, and fighting him was no better. If they didn't get a miracle, and fast, they were going to die.

"What are you doing here? Why are you in the village?" Anko called out. Orochimaru chuckled, sending shivers down the two younger nins backs. This was definitely not good. They were losing the battle of wits.

Orochimaru didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked directly into Naruto's eyes, freezing him in place. His snake like eyes silently studied the ocean blue of the jinchuriki, reading him like a book.

Anko looked down at the boy, taking her eyes off of Orochimaru for the first time.

'Shit! Snap out of it kid!' She wanted to say, but couldn't find it in herself to do the same.

"I find it unsettling that the Leaf leaves its security so lax during the chunin exams. I'm just...paying my contributions to this little fact. The old man has gotten soft over these years."

"How noble of you to point out our mistakes." Naruto called, surprising both Anko and Orochimaru. The Special Jonin's stomach dropped lower, if possible, when she noticed Naruto's red irises and slit pupils. His voice was more guttural and held a darker edge than it did before.

"Always happy to oblige, Naruto-kun. I don't believe we have formally met, Kyubi container."

"No, I don't believe we have. I've heard enough about you though. You were kicked out of the village for being a traitor, doing inhumane experiments under the Hokage's nose, and for just being an all around weird son of a bitch." Naruto dropped down to the clearing right in front of the aging sannin. Orochimaru's smirk faltered just a bit.

"You've done your research. I'm flattered."

"The honor is all mine! There's no end to how much I want to thank you for showing those pathetic villagers what fear truly was. I bow to you." Naruto knelt before Orochimaru, making Anko's mind completely halt. She watched the scene unfolding in front of her in disbelief, and betrayal.

Orochimaru gazed down at the kneeling blonde with as close a face of shock as he could show. Then his shock slowly turned to mirth as he began to chuckle. "My, I wondered how the pariah would have grown up with such a burden inside of such a hostile territory. I guess my assumptions were not far off. You have already learned how to utilize the Kyubi's chakra as well."

"Yes, I have. However, this is the extent of my power." Naruto spoke disdainfully. Orochimaru shook his head.

"Do you seek more power Naruto-kun?"

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Anko shouted, finally coming back to her senses. Naruto stood up and faced the woman.

"What does it look like? Did you really think I still held allegiance to this god forsaken village? After all they've done to me? After every single last day going through strife, wondering if my own sensei would kill me when he got the chance? All of the back stabbing bull shit that I've grown with, what normal human could stay sane through that?" Naruto chuckled. "Hell, I still wonder why you of all people aren't just like me."

Anko's heart skipped a beat. "Naruto..." She bit back tears at hearing that. All that time...had he been playing her and the Hokage? Had he known about the invasion just to lead them into a trap?

"What valid arguments Naruto-kun! Yes, why don't you join us Anko-chan! I'm sure that the accommodations of this village cannot be quite ideal." Orochimaru stepped past Naruto, facing Anko who still remained in the tree. Anko began sweating before drawing a kunai.

"I don't care what you say! Both of you...you'll die for this!" She threw her kunai at Naruto in blind fury. Orochimaru made no move to stop the kunai, wanting to gauge the boys strength. Naruto, expecting the move simply reflected the kunai like he had done before the Forest of Death and then caught it.

"Forgive me, but may I handle this? She doesn't seem as compliant as I'd hope she'd be." Naruto held the kunais reversed handed as he talked to Orochimaru. He smiled darkly up at the Special Jonin.

"As you wish, Naruto-kun. But please be quick, and don't kill her. She can be of use to us. Capture her swiftly."

Naruto nodded and blasted off of the ground towards Anko. The woman didn't get a chance to put her guard up as Naruto's form rocketed into her midsection and knocked them both backwards into the thick forest. Anko landed in a bush with Naruto landing right next to her.

"You fucking traitor!" She roared, however, when she noticed the extremely scared look on Naruto's face, she calmed down.

"Anko-chan, I won't be able to keep the facade going for much longer without having to actually go with that sick freak. I'm letting the Kyubi temporarily have control of my speech and mannerisms, but I still can't fight him. I have a plan but we're going to need to cooperate completely."

Anko looked into his cerulean eyes and saw the many layers of anguish that he was going through. With the Kyubi at its closes to having control of the boy, along with having to act like he was betraying the village, Naruto was going through a personal hell that she couldn't even fathom. If anything, the boy was showing what it took to be a real shinobi and utilizing the one element of the shinobi code that was needed to become an elite ninja: deception. However, to successfully fool a sannin was going to take more than just deception. The fox's trickery was truly marvelous.

"Alright, Naruto. But please, be careful." She said as she grabbed his shirt. "I want to have a chance to apologize to the brat for earlier so get us out of here alive fox."

"**Heheh, kit I like her. When this is over, maybe you should try-"**

'No, fox.' Naruto deadpanned, leaving the fox laughing his head off at the blushing blonde. Anko rose an eyebrow but said nothing.

In the clearing, Orochimaru felt the fluctuating chakras and assumed a small scuffle had occurred. He would have gone to see for himself, however, he was on the boundaries of a certain other chakra that he couldn't stray too far from. So standing in moot silence, he contemplated how much of an asset the demon boy could be to his plans. He was an unseen variable that just so happened to play in his favor.

But he wasn't stupid.

Orochimaru trusted no one but himself, and maybe, just maybe, his right hand man. The child would be an asset, yes, however, he new nothing of the boy. His attention and focus had always been Sasuke. The power the boy had was still dormant, and remedial compared to that of his brother. But he was still an Uchiha, and his sharingan was as good as any. Not that there were many to choose from in the first place.

Now Naruto, that was a different story. He wouldn't dare try to take his body. The fox would reject or kill them both in seconds. He doubted that the seal on Naruto would allow him to attempt it anyway. The boy's father was far more troublesome than many nations new. But as much disdain as Orochimaru had for the leaf, he held complete and utter respect for the Fourth Hokage. Sure, he wanted to kill the stupid bastard for becoming the Hokage when the title should have been his, but the power that he proved to hold over both the Shinobi world and civilians was admirable. Orochimaru had been unable to do any of his experiments, and even Danzo's ROOT had to be extremely cautious while the Fourth was around.

But that was off topic. Naruto himself seemed to be growing almost in a mindset that his father had. While his father wanted to protect Konoha, albeit with a no nonsense attitude, Naruto seemed to want to be rid of it just as much. Ah, the Namikaze blood line and their determination was truly a fascinating thing. Maybe if he let Naruto mate and breed with one of the girls he had under his wing, he'd be able to study the Namikaze line further. But that would have to wait, seeing that it all came back down to the Fourth Hokage's seal. As long as Naruto had that seal, and the Kyubi remained inside of him, the child was nearly invincible to Orochimaru. So it was better to let the bait hang while the biting was good.

"I have her Lord Orochimaru." Naruto called as he came back into the clearing, looking a tad beat up but nothing bad, carrying Anko unconscious over his shoulder and tied with ninja wire.

"Excellent, Naruto-kun. You are indeed a skilled shinobi. Your talents will not be overlooked." Orochimaru walked over to the blonde, and Naruto knelt before him again. "Now listen carefully Naruto-kun. Until I can gauge your true loyalty, I'm going to have to do something that you're not going to like."

Naruto tensed at that and the fox grew silent. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes shot up into the face of the Sannin as he slammed his fingers into Naruto's gut. Naruto felt the Kyubi's chakra slipping slowly out of his grasp and soon the fox all but vanished from his mind. Naruto dropped to his knees coughing up blood and clutching his stomach. He glared up at Orochimaru.

"What...what the hell did you just do?"

"I've sealed your use of the Kyubi. Forgive me Naruto-kun, but I can't let you continue using that power especially with the risk of you doing something upsetting during the Chunin exams and exposing me. You will continue on as if you have never seen me, and when the time comes, I will call you with that seal."

Naruto groaned, his vision blurring. He tried to call the fox but couldn't even reach its chakra. He groaned and forced himself to look calm as he answered Orochimaru.

"Alright...but will you remove the seal when the time comes?"

"Of course Naruto-kun. Now, for the next part." Orochimaru stepped over to Anko and rolled her to her back. He moved her head so that he had a clear look at the curse mark. He opened his mouth and bit over the seal, making it glow again and Anko cringe in her sleep. Naruto looked in horror.

"What are you doing?" He called, trying to hold his anger. Orochimaru didn't answer until he watched the seal pulse for several seconds and then fade back to normal.

"I have reawakened and upgraded the seal I gave to Anko all those years ago. Now when she comes to, she will be under my influence. She won't be able to spoil our little secret Naruto-kun."

Naruto begrudgingly nodded at that and just thanked Kami that Orochimaru trusted him enough to not speak on his own. Then his eyes widened.

'That's it! He sealed the Kyubi so that if I do try to talk, he or someone he has watching us could easily silence me...damn this snake...he's not a sannin for nothing.' Naruto grit his teeth but held in a growl. He needed Orochimaru to think that he was still loyal to him.

"What do you want me to do now Orochimaru...sama" Naruto had to force out the honorific as if he were trying to choke back vomit. Orochimaru chuckled and turned from the two young shinobi.

"Get back to the Chunin exams. Go about it as if nothing has happened. However, wait for her to wake-up and explain everything I have told you. I must be going now, for our other friends are waiting." Orochimaru leaped up into the trees, headed away from the tower. "Oh, and Naruto-kun. It would be wise not to cross me." With that, the snake sannin left a trembling blonde and unconscious snake jonin.

* * *

"What do you mean we're suspects in an unassociated case? If it's unassociated then why the hell are you keeping us here!"

"Fuu, sit down and be quiet. You're not helping us get out of here any faster."

"It's not fair Uriu! We didn't do anything!" The turquoise haired girl spun on her heels and glared at the spectacled pre-teen.

They were inside of the tower, however, they were in a holding cell room. One door, a one-sided mirror and four stone gray walls. Three chairs sat in the middle of the room, two being occupied by Train and Uriu while Fuu angrily paced the floor. An ANBU stood in front of the door while Ibiki himself stood in front of the three. In the corner of the room, Kin had yet to awaken.

"If anything you should be questioning her!" Fuu pointed to the still knocked out girl. "She attacked Naruto-kun's team and Naruto-kun came to rescue them! He even went as far as rescuing her when his own teammate tried to viciously attack her!"

Ibiki's interest was piqued by the statement. "What do you mean his teammate tried to viciously attack her?"

Fuu looked up at the man and noticed that he didn't seem as scary as he had at the written portion of the exam. She didn't know why, seeing that if they were supposed to be getting accused of something, then the man should have been exerting his full ki on them. So not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she sat down and calmed down. Afterward, she explained everything from her team meeting Naruto and Team Gai up to the point of Anko arriving. Ibiki's face showed a stern concern, however, he didn't show just how upset he truly was.

'Anko went after the brat, but they're not back yet. Which means that they had to have run into...'

"Ibiki-sama, we have word that Anko and Naruto are on their way to the tower. The ANBU team found them halfway here."

Ibiki frowned. What the hell? They were on their way back? Then that means they didn't meet Orochimaru after all...then why did it take them so long to start returning? Knowing Anko, she would have knocked the brat out and dragged him back by his hair without a second thought. Something weird was going on here...

"Excuse me, sir, but what's going on?" Train asked. Ibiki met the boys gaze and saw a dead serious look.

"It's none of your concern. You will remain here until we get the story from the other teams and your Jonin sensei arrives. Until then, get comfortable." Ibiki turned to walk out of the door. The ANBU stepped aside and opened the door. When Ibiki was next to him, he whispered. "Be nice to them, and alert me when the sound Kunoichi wakes up."

The ANBU gave a miniscule nod and shut the door behind Ibiki. Train glared at the ANBU and then faced Fuu and Uriu. "Something's not right. He was worried about something. Plus, these are the Chunin exams. They wouldn't have went off on us like that because they know teams can kill other teams. Something that's not supposed to be here is causing a disturbance in the village."

Uriu nodded, pushing his glasses up on his face. "It may have something to do with the strange chakra that the Uchiha was using. It was not an Uchiha trait, and it seemed to influence the boy's aggressiveness greatly."

Fuu looked between the two boys in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? Speak normal Japanese please!"

Train and Uriu chuckled at the flustered girl. Train put an arm around the girls shoulder, pulling her close and activating his doujutsu, making his irises yellow and his pupils slit, just like those of a cat. Fuu shivered at the close up view of the creepy eye technique and she shut her eyes tight. "Listen closely Fuu...the grim reaper is going to eat your soul!"

"NOOOO!" The girl screamed and jumped onto Uriu's lap, making the chair fall back. Uriu grunted from the impact and rolled Fuu from atop him.

"Dammit Train! Why must you scare her now! This is serious!" Uriu scolded as Train laughed, holding his side. He wiped a stray tear.

"It's...It's just too easy, haha!" His face froze however as he felt a sting in his side. Fuu stood next to him, pouting but with the stinger still in his side. "No...sense of humor..." He called before collapsing to the ground. Fuu stuck her tongue out and flopped back down in her seat. The ANBU watched with mild interest, though he did stifle a laugh at Fuu's reaction.

"Fuu, what we mean is that something else besides the Chunin exams is happening that has the Leaf village on edge. It could be anything from an intruder to a potential attack threat. And with so many other villages having ninja positioned here, it would be the perfect time for a covert insertion." Uriu explained.

Fuu nodded her head in understanding. "But who would dare attack the Leaf Village? The Leaf, Sand, and Rain villages are all allies. Kumo and Iwa are still scared of it as far as I know and Otogakure was just created no more than a few months ago right?"

"Yes, but that is all face value." Uriu continued. "Our village has a standing peace with the Leaf because of the aid we received during the great Shinobi War. And of course Kumo and Iwa are still afraid of the leaf, but together, what's from stopping them from posing a jointed attack? Then you have Otogakure. It may have been created a few months ago, but it has grown at such a substantial rate, and no one knows who the Kage is. How do we know that they aren't in league with each other?"

Fuu frowned. "But there aren't many teams from Iwa or Kumo here. Then you have the one team from Oto and several from Suna. We're the only team from Ame and we know our Kage would never do anything like this..."

"Which makes the biggest candidates Iwa and Kumo..."

"It's not Iwa or Kumo!" The two Ame nin glanced back at the now awake Kin who sat in the corner.

"You're up...what do you mean its not Iwa or Kumo?" Uriu asked.

Kin leaned up, tears in her eyes. She looked at the ANBU whom was preparing to turn around and go get Ibiki. "I'll explain everything..."

* * *

The remainder of the Konoha Twelve, minus Naruto and Sasuke, all sat in an open, circular room of the tower. They were preemptively given scrolls and escorted to the tower, all having similar yet distant thoughts on their situation. The group sat in an awkward silence as they all had their thoughts. The ANBU hidden in the corners watched stoically as the students awaited their Jonin sensei's.

First up was Hinata, who sat Indian style in a meditative position with her eyes closed. She was obviously upset, and seemed tense, despite the calming position. Her thoughts were along the lines of Anko taking too long to get Naruto and hoping that they made it back soon. She was worried about the blonde, and wanted to know the full story of what had happened before they showed up. However, the solemn gazes throughout the group made the tension too much to bear and she stayed silent.

Kiba sat next to Hinata, stroking Akamaru and thinking the same thing. He wasn't as worried for the blonde as Hinata was, but he was still worried. The scene they had come upon was indescribable, and with Kiba's limited brain span, there was no point in trying to make sense of it. All he knew was that something big had to be going down if the ANBU had to escort them to the tower.

Shino stood by his two teammates, leaning on the wall. He kept his gaze on the floor in front of him, not that it would make a difference with the shades. The Aburame was trying to read the vibes of the others, but the overwhelming sense of confusion and fear pretty much spoke for itself. Without a verbal lyric of what happened before he and his team arrived on the scene, he would be in the dark. So the logical thing to do was just wait.

Shikamaru sat with his back leaned against the opposite wall of Hinata's team. He had his eyes closed and a scowl on his face as if he were asleep. However, he was far from it as he contemplated everything that they had just seen, piece by piece. First off, Sasuke's situation made no sense with no prior experiences with the power. He and his team had only arrived when the sound team had started picking on the girl and Sasuke was already unconscious. So there wasn't much he could deduce about Sasuke's condition. However, Naruto was a different story. The boy had already been acting different when they had met up for the first part of the exams. And then he showed just how much he had changed when he protected Sakura and even fought against Sasuke. He was much stronger than he was in the academy, but the strangest part had to be his red eyes and chakra. Shikamaru didn't know how to describe it, but he felt a raw sense of fear overwhelm him when Naruto used the chakra. He had to use all of his wits just to keep from running away in fear of the chakra. Then you got the ANBU showing up and now things really get confusing. The mark on Sasuke's neck caught his attention, and then Naruto running off into the forest topped it off. Something was definitely wrong and it surrounded both Naruto and Sasuke.

Chouji was still eating, of course, but taking longer to chew his food. Probably something that everyone around him had felt, fear was the main feeling on his mind. Though he wouldn't mindlessly run from Naruto, that chakra was pretty intimidating. All he wanted to do was ask Naruto what it was about, but that'd have to wait until he arrived.

Ino sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, and eyes on the ground. She didn't know what she was feeling, trying to think of the Uchiha she had claimed to be in love with but finding her mind drifting only to the fear she had of feeling Naruto's chakra and the fear of hearing just how blood thirsty Sasuke had sounded. She was trying her hardest to remember what her father said to do in a situation like this, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember ever going over a situation like this. So with the only forefront facts being that she knew nothing of Naruto and Sasuke, and that both of them well surpassed her and her team's skills, she needed to reevaluate everything she had planned out for herself. She was going to slow down and start looking at things with a more open mind. But that was easier said than done. So as of now, Ino Yamanaka could not move toward the future...

Neji's thoughts were plain and simple. Fate was working in overtime today, and only time would tell what the outcome would be.

Tenten sat next to the standing Neji with a book on different short-swords open in front of her. She was really worried about Naruto and Fuu. When she looked into Naruto's eyes, her own fear of him was completely overshadowed by the pain that the boy looked to be in. She had wanted to run out to him and make him stop, or to at least help calm down the irrational Uchiha. But she had been cemented to her spot by the overwhelming chakras. There was nothing she could do. Then the ANBU took Fuu and her team away when they hadn't done anything. The bun haired girl just wanted this to be over with and hopefully, she'd be able to meet up with her new found friends again.

Lee was as quiet as he had ever been in his life. Leaning on the opposite side of Tenten from Neji, his gaze scanned the ground as he was lost in thought. He had been tracking Naruto's team in order to fight Sasuke, whom he had heard was the rookie of that years graduating class. In his search, he had also found out that Naruto was the so called 'dead last' of that years class. So his joy was sparked when he saw just how strong Naruto truly was, and his mind instantly made the connections that if the weakest person of that class was that strong, then surely Sasuke had to be something special. Lee sighed, shaking his head. That line of thinking disappointed even himself. He was the dead last of his own graduating class, and now here he was almost as strong as Neji. But that was only the first part of his falling mood that day. After following after Naruto and coming to the scene in the clearing, he was left speechless at Sasuke's attitude. To threaten to kill your own comrade was beyond unyouthful. It was downright criminal. As cold and distant as Neji was, he was still a team player...mostly. In the end, however, Lee was able to smile. As the optimist of the group, he had no choice but to think of what would happen if he was to face Naruto later on in the chunin exams. So holding on to that one line of wishful thinking, Lee stood up a bit straighter, anticipating that time where he would be able show off his most youthful skills.

Sakura sat alone, in the farthest northern part of the room. She looked around at all of the sullen faces and couldn't help but feel down her self. Something was happening to her teammates and she was worried sick. First that weird snake guy attacked them, dressed as a grass nin, then he bit Sasuke and gave him a weird mark on his neck. Then when Naruto showed back up, he and Sasuke got into it, and with her limited fangirl attention span, it was obvious that Naruto had attacked Sasuke...which she knew was a blatant lie. Thinking back on the confrontation, Naruto did get in Sasuke's way, however, it was Sasuke himself that threatened and attacked Naruto. As much as she didn't want to believe that, she had seen it with her own eyes. And now that the ANBU were involved, lying would get her into more trouble than she would want. So now it came down to getting Naruto in trouble, or Sasuke. A quick blush crossed the blossom haired girl's face as she remembered how Naruto had come to her rescue. Where was her mind when she was talking to Fuu if she could remember that now? With nothing but a setting sense of confusion washing in over her, Sakura decided to drop the whole thing completely. She was almost in the same position as Ino, however, there were just several things that she couldn't admit to the others, or to herself...and especially Naruto.

The door to the circular room opened and all eyes drifted to the intruder. Ibiki stepped in and gazed around at all of the children before sighing and shutting the door behind him. He casually strode to the center of the room, returning the gazes of each and everyone of the genin there. In the middle, he stayed silent for several seconds, gauging the looks of them all. While some were passive, most held loathing, likely due to the haste treatment they had gotten on entering the tower. But he was impressed that none of the children jumped up or shouted at him for an explanation.

"I take it you all are wondering what exactly is going on here right?" He spoke to drop a bit of the tension in the room, however, he kept his voice stern to let them know that he would not tolerate anything but the utmost respect. The several nods and grunts gave his answer. Then the girl that he identified as a Hyuga rose her hand. Ibiki acknowledged her.

"Ano, sensei. Where is Naruto-kun and Mitarashi-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"They are currently on their way here." Ibiki smiled, remembering that she was the girl in the classroom that had been talking to the blonde kid. It seemed even with her playing hard to get, she didn't want to lose the boy. "Now before I answer any more of your questions, let me make this clear. We will not divulge personal information on Naruto or Sasuke, until more facts are discovered and your Jonin sensei's arrive. Even then, most of what you saw was classified, so you all will be leaving here with more questions than answers, is that understood?"

'That defeats the purpose of us asking questions then...' Shikamaru thought, though he nodded in understanding anyway.

"Now, I have some questions for you all and I need you to answer with nothing but facts and the truth." Ibiki released a bit of ki to emphasize his point. Seeing the shivers go down the genin's spines, he knew he had gotten their attention. "How did Sasuke Uchiha end up in the state he was in when Anko and her ANBU team arrived?"

The genin looked between each other, wondering whom to designate as the speaker. Letting the question roll around for a bit, Ibiki looked over to the oldest team. "You."

Tenten squeaked and shut her book, blushing from the attention. She scratched the back of her head sheepishly, finding the movement quite contagious, and groaned. "Well...Me and my team arrived following after Naruto. Sasuke was already unconscious and Sakura looked to have been attacked by that team from Otogakure."

At this point, Ino spoke up. "She was. My team and I arrived because we felt the disturbance. We got there a few minutes before everyone else, but since we were all low on chakra, we would've been no help to Sakura." Ino felt like that was more of an excuse now though. Even with their team low on chakra, they could've overpowered the sound team with numbers.

Ibiki nodded at the girl and then looked to Sakura who seemed to be trying to shrink into nothingness. He turned back to Tenten and motioned for her to continue.

"Naruto got upset at seeing his teammates in such a position and jumped in to intervene. There was a sound ninja with holes in the palms of his hands. He began to fire chakra enhanced sound at him and Sakura, but Naruto protected her the whole time. After realizing that they were no match for him, the sound team prepared to retreat, however, the Uchiha woke up at this point." Tenten spoke with a bit of malice, gaining supported nods from many of the other ninja present.

"So Sasuke fought the sound team?" Ibiki asked. When Tenten shook her head, he rose an eyebrow. So far, everything the girl from Ame said was true.

"No. He was going to, but Naruto stopped him. I don't know what Naruto was thinking, but seeing as the Oto team was going to retreat anyway, there was no need to continue after them. Plus, Sasuke seemed to be...more aggressive than what we've heard about him. We think it may have something to do with that weird purple chakra he had been using."

Ibiki nodded once more. It was a logical and sound conclusion, also most likely correct. He knew very little about the curse mark itself, outside of what Anko had told him, and apparently it was a stronger version than the one he had given Anko 13 years ago.

"Sasuke didn't like Naruto getting in his way and...he threatened to kill him." Ibiki's eyes widened. "There was no playing around either. I could sense the full intent of it rolling off of Sasuke. By now the Oto team had ran, leaving behind that girl who was frozen in fear of whatever chakra Naruto and Sasuke were using. Sasuke still tried to attack the girl, though she wasn't any threat to them and Naruto began to protect her too. When she passed out, Naruto called for Fuu...the girl from the Ame team to take her to safety. When she appeared, Sasuke attacked her as well. The whole time, Naruto only attacked back to protect others. He was even injured by Sasuke's fireball technique. After Sasuke used another fire attack on Naruto, he pinned him against a tree. That's when Naruto began to use some weird...and extremely frightening red chakra." Tenten visibly shivered as she remembered the overwhelming fear that had frozen her in place along with the others. "He overpowered Sasuke. All he did was squeeze his wrist and then he hit him in the gut, making the purple chakra go back into Sasuke. After that, the red chakra left Naruto too, but before we could go to him, he ran."

Ibiki had gotten upset near the end, wondering if Naruto had somehow lost control of the Kyubi. However, upon hearing that he had simply used the chakra to subdue Sasuke, his fears were put to rest. He was actually impressed with the boy, though he did have mixed feelings on getting in the way when Sasuke opted to attack the Oto team. On one hand, he could understand why Naruto would have tried to stop him, but these were the chunin exams. Sasuke had the right to attack them. Not that Ibiki was saying that it would've been better. If it wasn't for Naruto intervening, then Sasuke would have been allowed to use the power of the curse mark to his hearts content. Though he didn't like hearing that Sasuke had threatened to kill a comrade not one bit.

"Can this be confirmed by all here present?" Ibiki asked looking around at all the genin. Almost instantly, most of the room nodded. However, his gaze dropped onto Sakura and Ino. Sakura was on the verge of tears while Ino fidgeted with a frown on her face. She looked up at Ibiki and flinched under his glare. She shakingly nodded as well. "And you?"

Sakura looked up at Ibiki with a single tear sliding down her cheek. She looked around the room at the rest of her comrades. Most of them looked upon her with disgust, most likely having a feeling that the pink-haired teen was going to make up an excuse or take up for Sasuke. The look from Hinata was the worse, while Ino's looked sympathetic, yet scrutinizing. After several seconds of sitting under the burn of Ibiki's stern eyes, Sakura dropped her head in defeat.

"It's all true." The words left her lips like air, barely audible but heard by all. The respectful nods her way were missed as her eyes were on the ground in front of her, tears hitting the stone floor from the now crying pre-teen. Ibiki showed no sympathy for the girl and found it almost pathetic that she cried at a moment like this. They were ninja, and making a choice as simple as this was child's play to what would happen on the field. He thought that he had proven that point when he talked to them earlier that day.

"You say that the Uchiha was already unconscious when you all arrived. Then you were the only one there to know what happened to him right?" Ibiki asked Sakura. She looked up with pink eyes that were starting to swell.

"Y-yes. We were attacked-"

"Stop." The ANBU captain interrupted. "I'll discuss that with you privately."

Many of the others present took note of it, hoping to ask Sakura about it later. As the room fell into a short silence, the door opened. The ANBU from Fuu's holding room motioned for Ibiki to come. Ibiki nodded and dismissed the genin without a word. When the door was firmly shut behind him, the genin all let out sighs of relief.

As some began to ponder all the happenings, while other conversed amongst themselves, Ino looked over to her childhood friend. Sakura was shaking as she tried to hold in tears. The pre-teen blonde hesitated for a moment, but decided to play the bigger role and walked over to the blossom haired girl. Sakura looked up startled at Ino, expecting it to be Ibiki for some odd reason.

"Hey, you okay?" Ino asked, knowing that it wasn't a good question, but what else could she say?

"No..." Sakura whined. "Naruto and Sasuke were fighting again, but this time was the worse! I don't know what's wrong with either one of them! Ever since Naruto changed, Sasuke's been worried about him. And now Sasuke's changed too, thanks to..." Sakura paused.

"What happened Sakura? Before we got to the clearing?" Ino asked gently. However, a kunai embedded in the ground in front of the two girls from one of the shadows of the room.

"Classified." An ANBU appeared and disappeared just like that, leaving the two girls shivering at knowing that could have easily been aimed at a vital part of their bodies.

"I...I guess I can't tell you." Sakura whispered. Ino put an arm around Sakura.

"Fine, then let's at least deal with what we can." Ino wiped a stray tear from the younger girls cheek. Sakura wiped the rest herself and grew quiet, hoping that Ino would at least feel the same way as her.

Ino, on the other hand, was going to try to explain this to both Sakura and herself. She didn't really understand the meaning of all this, and especially the things she was feeling lately, but she needed to make heads and tails of it. Right there and then, she was going to open the door to a new part of her life.

"Sakura, Naruto has changed, and maybe you don't realize it, but it's for the better...in some ways. And Sasuke...well, he hasn't changed at all. And I'm not talking about what happened in the clearing."

"Wha-what?" Sakura gasped. "What do you mean Sasuke-kun hasn't changed?"

"You're not stupid Sakura. Haven't you once ever wondered why Sasuke is so cold to us? Why he never agrees to go out with us, even when we're not acting like rabid fangirls?" Ino held back a chuckle now that she was able to admit that.

"Oh my god! Ino, Sasuke-kun is NOT gay!" Sakura blurted loudly, drawing others attention. Ino paused, turned red, and then decided to laugh loudly. Sakura cocked an eyebrow, glaring angrily at the blonde head.

"Are...are you serious? That's not what I meant at all, haha!" Ino wiped her eyes as Sakura pouted and blushed as well. "Although, I wouldn't put it past him!" By now, everyone else was listening and joined in on the Yamanaka's mirth. Even Neji stood with a small smirk on his face.

"That's not funny Ino! So what did you mean then?" The pink haired pre-teen demanded angrily. Ino took a few more moments to calm down before continuing.

"I meant that Sasuke isn't as great as you and I made him out to be in our imaginations. He's always been cold, and he acts like he doesn't want anything to do with us. You're on his team, so you spent more time with him, and you said it yourself. He's the same as he was in the academy, probably worse. The only person he actually opens up and talks to is Naruto, but even that's starting to wear thin."

"That's not true! Naruto is always bugging Sasuke-kun, so..." Sakura stopped herself, finding that she was once again saying something that sounded pretentious. She shook her head and actually thought about what Ino said. "No, I'M the one always bugging Sasuke-kun..."

"What else?" Ino urged, finding everything she was saying dead true. However, after Sasuke, both Ino and Sakura's paths took huge turns in opposite directions.

"He finds us...me annoying. He gives Naruto far more respect than me...because he deserves it. Naruto never did anything to me and I treated him like crap. Even now..."

Ino nodded. She was also someone who had treated Naruto badly while growing up. She didn't know if he did, but she remembered the time where he shared his lunch with her because she was dieting and had passed out. He was worried for her, even after she had insulted him countless times, even as he tried to help her. Naruto was a genuinely nice person, and after that event, she didn't pick on him anymore. She didn't try to get the know the older boy either, and right about now she was regretting it.

"Sasuke-ku...Sasuke isn't all bad though. He just needs someone there to be strong for him." Sakura said, though she did show maturity by looking at the situation from an outside perspective. Instead of seeing Sasuke like a boy toy, she decided to look at him as a person and shinobi. "Ino...we messed up. I messed up. Naruto, Sasuke, all of you. I bet all of you are stronger than me. I wasted so much time, and Kakashi-sensei hasn't really taught us anything..." Tears were falling again. "Ino, I could die here. I would've died if Naruto hadn't shown up. And Sasuke...this all just so fucked up!"

Ino blinked at the language Sakura used, but she patted the girls back. She was happy that Sakura held up to her role as the smartest female genin of their class. She understood, or at least seemed to understand everything so far. Now Ino needed to start believing in everything she had told to Sakura.

Sakura felt like a weight was lifted off of her chest, and was now hung over her head. Realization was the first step. But, could she truly change? Or would she continue to be the same girl she was starting to regret being? But her main question remained, what could she do for Naruto and Sasuke?

* * *

Ibiki walked the halls once more, deep in thought. He wanted to have something settled before Naruto and Anko arrived because that in itself would raise more questions than he had time for at the moment. He needed to do three things at once. So taking a page out of a certain blondes book, he flared one handsign and created two simple shadow clones. Without needing to explain to the clones, they parted ways. The first clone headed to the cell containing the Ame team while the the other clone headed back the opposite direction to speak to Sakura about just how Sasuke had acquired the curse seal. The real Ibiki headed towards the cell Sasuke was in.

If you could call it a cell. It was more of a room set aside from the rest, far out of sensory of even Hinata and her Byakugan. It was deep inside the tower, several floors down and ANBU were not hidden as they patrolled the sanctum of the floors below. Ibiki walked towards a double door with blue flames on each side. The ANBU guarding the door stepped aside and allowed Ibiki to enter, silently shutting the door behind him.

Inside the room, several of the same blue flame torches sat on pillars. It was the only light and cast a dark ambiance over the room. Ibiki approached the center of the room, and as he walked addressed the other person besides Sasuke that was in the room.

"How is coming along?" He asked.

"All I did was apply the over seal. If Sasuke can resist, he can stop the effects of the seal. However, I've never seen anything like this before. It's far from an expert seal, but its emits a poisonous chakra in the process. I can't undue it without knowing the base form of the poison chakra." Kakashi spoke while still gazing over the cruse mark. Sasuke sat in the middle of what appeared to be a large seal on the floor. His shirt was off and black marks were weaving in intricate patterns from his back, chest and around his neck. He sat quietly, leaving the other two guessing at what could be on his mind.

"Of course Orochimaru must have come up with some other type of monstrosity. Hell, I doubt we could even discern a fraction of the chakra without a medic nin on Tsunade's level." Ibiki spoke remorsefully, Kakashi nodding his agreement. The copy cat nin knelt down and put a hand over the curse seal and applied chakra. Sasuke winced before the marks all around the mark began to recede into his skin.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sasuke spoke for the first time since he had been brought in to the tower. It had seemed as if his memory was a bit fuzzy after the curse mark had receded.

"Oh? What is it?" The silver haired man asked.

"I...I threatened Naruto." He said low, as if telling to himself as well. It sounded like a question, and Sasuke couldn't believe he had done it. Kakashi, still oblivious to most of the situation merely eye smiled.

"He'll be fine. You threaten him all the time, no big deal!" He waved it off. However when Sasuke spun on him, eyes set in the sharingan, he almost flinched.

"I threatened to kill him!" Sasuke spat. "I would never...I wouldn't..." Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his fist as he held in his anger. He wanted to strike the jonin. Out of all the times Kakashi had dismissed Naruto, this may have been the worse. It always irked him that Kakashi showed favoritism, even if it was towards him. Even if Sasuke had forgotten at some point, he and Naruto were merely rivals, not bitter enemies. From the way Naruto was looking at Sasuke lately, they both had forgotten. But after his run in with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death, he remembered what happened during their fight against Zabuza and Haku. "We're supposed to protect each other!"

Kakashi glanced back at Ibiki who said nothing and watched the scene play out. Kakashi sighed, knowing that he was one his own with this one. "Sasuke, Naruto's bounced back from a lot worse. Don't worry yourself about it."

Neither heard Ibiki sigh as Sasuke snapped on his sensei. "Bounced back from worse? BOUNCED BACK FROM WORSE? WHO THE FUCK SAYS THAT!" Sasuke clenched his fist until they bled. "You call yourself a sensei but all you ever do is train me to use my sharingan, and that's rarely! We haven't had a team assignment since we've come back from Wave country and that was last month! Me, Naruto, and Sakura barely see each other, and when we did go to train you always showed up late! What happened, Hatake? Weren't you the one preaching about how those who disobey the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than that?"

Sasuke groaned and clutched his neck with one hand but he didn't let up on Kakashi, even with the worried look he was leveling. When Kakashi reached out to touch him, Sasuke roughly smacked his hand away.

"Now I tell you something that I can't even stand to remember and you say it's not a big deal? Fine then Hatake, what if you threatened to kill someone you care about and have full intentions on doing just that? What if you would've succeeded if your sensei was a neglectful, perverted bastard?" Sasuke's anger slowly began to fade. The pain from the curse mark and over seal putting too much strain on him to continue ranting.

"Sasuke...I..."

"Fuck you, Kakashi!" He said just above a whisper as he took several deep breaths. "Where is Naruto?" He asked Ibiki, completely dismissing the Jonin in front of him. He had nothing left to say to him.

"On his way to the tower." Ibiki answered. "And did you admit to threatening Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sasuke flinched at Ibiki's cold tone. He looked down, not wanting to be reminded of that. Before he could answer yes, Kakashi stood up.

"Ibiki-san, you must know that the curse seal forces the will of Orochimaru upon the user-"

"STOP IT!" Sasuke yelled out. "Stop doing that! If I was Naruto, you wouldn't have tried to make an excuse."

"Sasuke, that's enough insubordination." Ibiki spoke much more calmly than the situation seemed to need. His gaze, however, made Sasuke cement his mouth shut, though he did continue to send glares towards his sensei. Ibiki looked right into Kakashi's eyes when he spoke.

"As your former ANBU captain, I'm highly and utterly disappointed and disgusted with what I just heard and witnessed."

At the tone Kakashi instantly dropped to one knee, his fist on the ground and head down. "Forgive me sensei."

"You know what you were taught Kakashi. You had me and the Fourth Hokage himself teach you. I don't understand how you could've turned out like this." Ibiki sighed once more, finding himself doing that a lot that day. "As for the curse seal. From Anko's report, it does enforce a part of Orochimaru's will on the victim, however, it's only to strengthen their darker thoughts. If that person was to have a pure heart, its theory that the curse seal wouldn't work."

Sasuke's eyes dilated at that. "So...that means..." Ibiki nodded grimly, finally releasing a ki that he had been building since speaking with Fuu earlier. The two members of Team 7 seemed to shrink under the massive weight.

"Somewhere deep inside you, you truly wanted to kill Naruto."

* * *

As the full circle began to slowly reach its end, Ibiki, the clone, found itself once again in the Amegakure teams holding cell. From what he heard, the Jonin sensei's were just arriving. The Hokage would most likely be on his way as well, but to throw Orochimaru off, he would be the last to arrive. The clone frowned at the fact that it could still get a migraine even if it wasn't the original copy. When it entered the room, it paused, taking in the scene.

"Dammit Train! Leave them alone!" Uriu shouted from the wall on the left, right next to the door. Train stood on a chair, seeming to be taking a monster pose as he once again used his doujutsu. Looking to the corner, he found Fuu and Kin huddled together, shivering under the gaze of the boy.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ibiki boomed, startling Train and making him lose his balance on the chair. He tottered for several moments before the chair gave in to vertigo and sent him tumbling backwards to the floor.

"Oooouch." He whined and opened one eye to see an upside down Ibiki. The ANBU head captain looked around when he heard a snicker. When he realized it was coming from the ANBU watching and guarding the room, he turned hard glares on them all, halting the laughs and instilling a moment of awkwardness. When he looked back into the room, all three Ame genin were sitting in their seats with their hands folded on their laps and Kin sat next to Uriu on the floor in the same position. If Ibiki didn't know any better, he would have sworn he could see angel halo's over their heads.

"Sir, she's awake." Train said, sickeningly sweet like.

"I can see that." The clone replied with a small growl. It rubbed the bridge of its nose in annoyance, though he had to admit the sight of Train toppling was quite comical. But this wasn't a moment to be joking around. "I'm not going to beat around the bush. I have questions for you, and I want honest answers. If I believe you are lying, I will escort you to the T&I headquarters, and trust me; You don't want to go there." Kin nodded her head rapidly after paling at what Ibiki had just said.

"What was the condition of Uchiha Sasuke when you attacked his team?"

"He was unconscious after receiving Orochimaru's curse seal!" Kin blurted out without hesitation, getting shocked gazes from the Ame team.

"Orochimaru? The Orochimaru of the sannin, Orochimaru?" Train called in awe.

"So that's what that powerful chakra was..." Fuu mumbled to herself. Ibiki, for what he hoped would be the last time that day, sighed. He hadn't expected the girl to just come out and say it like that. If it weren't for the fact that he needed answers fast, he would have dismissed the Amegakure genin. However, he would just hold them in contempt with the information should they try to release it to the public.

"How do you know Orochimaru did it? Are you working for him?"

"Yes, and no! Orochimaru is the Kage of Otogakure, and now that I'm in your custody, I have no plans on returning to him. As far as he's concerned, I'm dead, or will be if he sees me again. He destroyed the orphanage I was staying in and kidnapped me and a lot of the other children as well."

'So that's why she's singing like a canary.' Ibiki thought. He once again glanced at the Ame team to see them soaking up knowledge like sponges. He would need to question them once more to make sure what was being said did not leave that room.

"Is there anything else?" Ibiki asked, his headache slowly going away as the girl was far more compliant than he expected. It made things so much more easier.

"...Yes..." Kin stated looking down. She began to go into detail about the upcoming invasion on Konohagakure that was supposed to take place within a months time during the finals of the chunin exams. She told them only what she herself knew, seeing as she wasn't important to the plan itself. Hell, Orochimaru didn't even think she was worthy of getting a weak version of his cursed seal.

"Sir, the team from Amegakure's Jonin sensei is here." The ANBU at the door called.

"Send him in."

The door opened and the Ame team's eyes lit up. A man wearing a long red trench coat buttoned fro top to bottom with two rows of buttons stepped into the room. He had hair that defied gravity just as Kakashi's but was platinum blonde, like Ino's. Over his eyes he wore fire orange shades...and was eating a meat bun. The Ame team face planted as the cool look was instantly thrown off.

"Dammit Vash-sensei! Don't you ever stop engorging yourself!" Fuu called with a pulse mark on her forehead. The man inhaled the last of the food and smiled.

"Ne, Fuu? It's too loud I can't see you."

"That makes no sense!" She cried again.

"Excuse me." Ibiki interrupted loudly. Vash faced the ANBU leader with the same smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hello, my name is Vash Stryfe, I'm this team's-"

"I know who you are." Ibiki stepped aside, letting the genin know they were just about free to go. "You're Ame's infamous 'Vash The Stampede'. You're reputation is almost as high as our own 'Copy Cat Ninja.'." Vash beamed at the praise. "However, I need to make this clear here and now. What was discussed in this room is highly confidential, and business of Konoha. If a single word is uttered once you set foot outside of this room, you will be considered a national threat, and the full charges will fall on the Jonin sensei."

Vash's smile was frozen on his face, but his students could see that he was sweating bullets. They groaned at the man. "Sensei, we won't talk. We understand that this is Konoha's business. Actually, if we could speak with your Kage, we would like to get permission to ask for aid from our own Kage." Train said, once again being serious.

Ibiki almost smiled. The Ame team was showing loyalty and level headedness that was missing from a lot of the Konoha genin. Outside of their antics, the team was completely cooperative and almost pleasant. He would grant them that request, as it also would show how the bond between the Leaf village and Rain village was fairing.

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, follow the ANBU and prepare for the next part of the exam. You are to act as if nothing has changed."

"Yessir!" All four said. Ibiki rose an eyebrow at Vash and finally began to understand where the Team got its quirkiness from. The team marched out of the room following an ANBU.

"Wh-what about me, sir?" Kin asked. Ibiki eyed the girl with a smirk that would even make Anko squirm.

"You're dead remember? And since you technically don't exist anymore, how about I get you acquainted with the ANBU force."

* * *

**A/N: (WARNING: This will probably be a long one.)**

**First off, Phnxfyr1- Congratulations! You were the first one to guess that Train was from Black Cat! (Freggin loved the manga and anime!) You get...A SNEAK PREVIEW AT HE NEXT CHAPTER...naw, just kidding. A pat on the back and virtual cookies. **

**Twin Silver Dragon-**** You were the second to get the answer, so here's your shout out! I LOVE YOUR NAME! It just sounds epic.**

**To the anonymous review with no name, I enjoyed that review. However, I have not seen X-Men First Class yet, so I have no idea what the similarity is between that and Fuu's abilities. If someone could please explain, that'd be much appreciated. **

**Chewie Cookies-**** Once again, awesome name! I'm glad that you are enjoying the story, glad that you caught Train (or scrolled down and saw the other reviews XD), and that you caught my mistake with Zaku...that I have no intention of fixing. XD ****We're just gonna say his full name is Zakuzu and they call him Zaku for short. See, problem solved. ^-^**

**Now, for the actual notes...**

**I did this chapter fairly quick because after completing the last one, I had the adrenaline to keep going. I don't really have that right now, so the next chappie might be a bit. I still have to finish Beyond The Horizon.**

**And before anyone chews me out, Naruto is still a genin and has only been training for two days. With his shadow clones, the training I envisioned him doing would only estimate out to five months mental and two months physical. He is NOWHERE near ready to take on a sannin, and Anko is not stupid enough to believe she can beat him.**

**I understand that it seems as if Sakura and Sasuke's emotions and personalities seem to be flip flopping so far, but there are reasons for that. One reason, for Sakura is the domino effect. Hearing about changes and actually SEEING changes are different. Sakura is seeing these changes happening between her team with her own eyes. Sasuke, on the other hand, is conflicting with his inner 'avenger' a lot sooner than he did in the anime. I need it done now, and I'm not the type of person to make Sasuke the overly douche bag type without a reason. (Or if I don't need it in the story.) **

**Now, some of you will say, 'Well if your not making Sasuke a douche bag, how come your making Kakashi one?' **

**Let's get something straight...I like Kakashi. He is a cool character, and even now one of my favorites. However, you can't overlook how much of an ass he was before and during the chunin exams. There's no 'Oh he needed to train Sasuke with the sharingan' and all that jazz. He could still have found something for Naruto, and something better for Sakura to do, or trained them with the spare time apart from Sasuke. **

**I believe in trial and redemption, so I will try to be fair to ALL the characters, no matter how much I personally despise some of them. (Except for Danzo. He gets no slack.) **

**And with that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as it gave me a headache to write. I will see you all in the next installment! Ikeze.**


	6. Within Truth and Lies 1

_**Hope Will Never Die...ripples in the lake of time that spread until the water meets a sea or crashes at the bottom of a waterfall. How big of a wave that is made will determine how fast the ripples run and how soon they fade...**_

_**HWND/ Subaku no Gaara: Path Divergence, Before Chunin Exams. Changes, complete shift in moral functionality. Reverting back to true ages mindset, however, the speed of change greatly conflicts with current status. Mental stability in question. Mannerisms more like Naruto, though wise when need be. More changes yet to be determined...**_

_**HWND/ Hiroshi TenTen: Path Divergence, During Forest of Death. Changes, confidence greatly increased due to meeting of people who accept her outside of her teammates. Loyalty to Naruto and Fuu plus her team has increased her determination as well. Mannerisms seem more cheerful, though oriented by her new found friends. More changes yet to be determined...**_

_**HWND/ Mitarashi Anko: Path Divergence, Before Forest of Death. Changes, established a deep connection to Naruto because of their past, and due to a growing feeling of admiration to the teen, has begun to show her true self. Refuses to use complete promiscuity on Naruto. Mannerisms seem about the same, however, almost frighteningly different around Naruto. More changes yet to be determined...**_

* * *

**Chapter 6: Within Truth and Lies 1**

"Should...should we be concerned?"

"...At this point, I honestly don't know or care anymore. I need eye soap, because this is just plain disturbing..."

Temari and Kankurou were currently standing at the edge of the clearing where they had just beaten a Konoha squad of genin and acquired the scroll they needed to continue on to the tower. But, instead of the blood soaked clearing that they were expecting to see, they were rewarded with the site of Gaara consoling the female of the opposite team, whom had cried upon losing their chance to advance in the exam. As their little brother finished up and sent the team on their way, he faced his siblings with the same emotionless expression they were used to.

"What?" He asked, honestly holding back a smirk that threatened to break his emotionless mask. He was completely aware of his elder siblings confusion to his new found attitude.

"Seriously...Gaara, what's going on here?" Temari asked, as close to demanding as she would get without knowing if Gaara had truly changed or not.

Gaara sighed and formed a sand chair behind him. He sat and motioned for his siblings to do the same. They both rose questioning eyebrows until they noticed two sand chairs behind them as well.

"I didn't know he could do that..." Kankurou whispered impressed. Temari held back the urge to hit him, finding Gaara's sand molding skills the least of their worries right now.

Gaara sat patiently as Temari tried to get her thoughts together. After a few minutes, Temari crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair, which was surprisingly sturdy.

"What's happened to make you act like this Gaara?" The bluntness of her questioning was becoming common now.

"I met with the Konoha shinobi Naruto. He is a junchuriki as well."

"A WHAT?" Temari and Kankurou called at the same time. Gaara shrugged.

"He is the container of the Kyubi. Apparently they have a mutual relationship. Naruto has gone through the same things as I, yet he hasn't given in to his inner demon. His courage and drive his shown me that I don't have to be a weapon for Suna. I can be my own person."

Temari's gaze pierced into Gaara and held it for several seconds. Kankurou looked between the two, a bit disturbed by Temari's own courage to look their brother in the eyes like that. Then Temari slowly stood up. She took three steps towards Gaara, never leaving his gaze. Kankurou sweated and put a hand on his puppet just in case. Gaara's fist unintentionally clenched suddenly. A flash of his childhood appeared in his mind for a split second.

"Thank Kami!" Temari cried and wrapped her arms around her little brother. Gaara's eyes widened and the sand around them shot up into the air. Kankurou jumped to his feet, unwrapping the puppet in less than a second. However, the sand froze in the air. Silence filled the clearing yet Kankurou's heart thudded heavily in his chest. Temari and Gaara were half concealed from his view by sand. As the wind blew, he realized he was holding his breath. Then the sand began to collapse back onto the ground.

"**She means you no harm." **The Ichibi said, a bit more of a feminine tone entering her voice.

Gaara was still speechless at the action. Then Naruto's words echoed in his head.

"_I bet your brother and sister worry for you all the time, even if you can't tell. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but if you don't try it will never happen."_

"Temari...Kankurou...I'm sorry...for everything." Gaara spoke as he wrapped his arms around Temari too. Kankorou relaxed his grip and let out a relieved sigh.

"It's alright Gaara. It was always alright. You never asked for this." Temari was crying, her grip only growing on her little brother.

"You...you never blamed me?" Gaara took a step back from Temari. The sandy blonde wiped her eyes and smiled.

"Of course not! It could have been either one of us if we would have been born in your position." Temari's smile was new to Gaara. It was bright, and most definitely something he wasn't used to seeing. Even more, it was directed at him. His sister was smiling at him. He flinched as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"If mother never hated you, why would we?" Kankorou added. Now Gaara was really astounded.

"But...father said mother hated me!"

Temari and Kankorou paused. "He said what?" The smile that was on Temari's face fell instantly. Kankurou cracked his knuckles.

"I knew he was a bastard, but to tell Gaara that..."

"We need to go see father." Temari called.

"No! We can't, not yet." Gaara said, eyes pleading. "I've already alerted Konoha of the invasion. Naruto plans to let everything seem like they're normal so that Father and Orochimaru won't get suspicious. We have to continue on as if nothing has changed."

The entire situation was almost overwhelming for the older sand siblings. Everything they had prepared for was gone out the window. But seeing Gaara act normal was a bigger conundrum, one that was gladly welcomed. Though they didn't, they felt as if they had a decent enough grasp on the situation to go with the flow. If all they had to do was act natural, then all they had to keep doing was laying low. The only problem now was their sensei Baki, and the actual invasion. It may have been a month away, but they would need to plan.

"We can still act normal but we do need to meet this Naruto person." Temari said, not realizing both Gaara and Kankurou had been staring at her in confusion.

"Uh..." Kankurou started.

Temari glanced at him, still thinking. "What?"

"You do realize you zoned out and started talking to yourself right? Saying stuff like everything going out the window, Gaara acting normal, going with the flow...we thought you had started narrating or something. You writing a book?"

Temari blushed as Gaara held a smirk. She looked back and forth between her brothers before fuming and standing. "Oh screw you guys! I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do!"

"What? Like you narrated. All we have to do is act natural." Gaara teased.

Sand shot up as Temari tried to bring her fist down on Gaara's head. "Dammit! I liked you better when you didn't talk!" She called continuing to rain down punches on the sand shield. Gaara looked at Kankurou.

"Has...has she always been this violent?"

"Trust me, this isn't as bad as that time of month." The punches suddenly stopped. Kakurou realized a second too late that the statement he just made would be his last for the day.

"You can go to hell!" Temari called, bringing around the oversized fan with force begetting Tsunade. Kankurou's body soared over the trees and out of the clearing. Gaara looked in amazement at the distance and air his brother got. When Temari's enraged glare landed on him, he formed a sand shield over his entire body except for his face.

"Should we check on him?" Gaara asked. Temari shrugged.

"He'll be awake by tomorrow."

Gaara let down the sand shield as Temari rubbed the back of her head, regretting hitting Kankurou that hard. Now it was Gaara's turn to shrug. "Well, at least his smells gone."

* * *

After Gaara and Temari decided it best to wait it out until Kankurou reawakened, Gaara entered his mind. He appeared inside of the large prison, however, this time there was only one large cell. The Ichibi's shadow was all he could see for a moment.

"Okay, what's going on here?" Gaara asked in his normal monotone, arms folded and bored look upon his face. "You're starting to sound different."

The shadow of the Ichibi slowly grew larger as it neared the gates. When it was finally up close, Gaara cocked his head in confusion.

"**What, Nibi's got your tongue or something?" **The tailed beast asked, her voice...almost natural. It was just a bit deeper than Kurenai's.

"You're slimmer...and not as ugly..." Gaara noted. In fact, Shukaku seemed more like a ferret now than a badger...raccoon...thing. Her form was becoming slim, like that of Kyubi, and her snout was just a bit elongated instead of looking as if it was mushed to her face.

"**I'll take that as a compliment. I'm returning to my natural form, before I became a depressed prisoner." **

"So...you weren't always a disgusting, fat, ugly rodent?" Gaara knew depression hit hard, but that was ridiculous.

"**...Don't push your luck Gaara, I can still give you nightmares." **The demon narrowed her eyes. Gaara humbled himself for the moment. The large demon laid down, her slimming new figure making no sound as she moved.

"If this is the real you, then why did the Kyubi and Hachibi bully you all the time?" Gaara asked genuinely interested in anything that made the Ichibi's life miserable. More ammo for him to use against her.

"**I'm the one tail, the weakest of the tailed beast. I was always trying to pick fights with the others so that they wouldn't call me the weakest...of course, that back fired...That and Kyubi and Hachibi were ass holes to begin with." **The demoness sighed and let out a wry chuckle.

Gaara seemed to think to himself for a bit. "Is that why you forced me to kill all those people?"

"**Yes...you humans were weak. Weaker than me. So by having you, my host, slaughter them, I could gain a false sense of power. It began with only people who deserved it, but my insanity slowly grew from there."**

"The Kyubi and Hachibi fueled it, but power made you what you are..." Gaara rhetorically stated.

"**Well, that and they always held the fact that I had a crush on the Gobi over my head."**

Gaara wanted to smack his forehead. "Let me get this straight...you all powerful demons, masters of elements and chakra, with knowledge beyond even the wisest of men to date...are no more than a bunch of hormone driven animals? What are you, teenagers?"

"**Actually, in the proportion of demon life spans to human years...yes."** Gaara face planted.

"This shouldn't even surprise me anymore." Gaara mumbled. "So, is there a reason you're telling me all of this?"

The Ichibi seemed to smile a bit. **"Well, as the Kyubi said, we cannot escape our fates. We should make our time together as least displeasing as possible. I understand if you do not trust me now, and even if it takes a while. But I am willing to help you as the Kyubi does his child for as long as it takes."**

Gaara gave the tailed beast a scrutinizing glare. But it soon softened and he sat down in front of the cell. Of course, after everything the demon had put him through, he hated it. But no more so than the people of his village and his father. As of now, the demon seemed like it was legitimately trying to make amends. As farfetched as it seemed, Gaara was willing to look towards the future. But only because of Naruto.

"You've made my life hell since the day I was born, had me kill dozens upon dozens of people. You are the reason my entire village hates me, including my own father, and the reason my brother and sister feared me until today." Gaara watched as Shukaku fidgeted under his glare. "I guess if you call me Gaara-sama and never talk about killing anyone again, then I can work with you."

"**Gaara-sama? Really?"** Ichibi stood up, almost as if to walk away.

"I can always ask Naruto to bring the Kyubi in here to-"

"**Oh Gaara-sama, stop joking around so much!"** Gaara couldn't help but smirk. He turned to leave the prison with the same mirth.

"Ah, this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

* * *

The two hurdled through the forest at a leisure pace. There was too much tension in the air to try and go at full speed, and very few words had been spoken since they started moving. Naruto had already explained the situation to Anko, and after several painful jabs and near fatal cuts from a poison tipped kunai, they were on their way to the Tower.

Anko was well beyond pissed, of course. But she wasn't pissed at Naruto. They would be in much more trouble than this if the boy hadn't tricked Orochimaru. She was most definitely upset about the reactivation of her curse mark, but she was already thinking of ways to make it work for herself. She still remembered the curse mark giving a power boost to the user, but at the cost of enforcing Orchi-teme's will on the user progressively. Knowing the snake bastard, it probably worked twice as fast as the original seal used to. If she could find a way to manipulate the curse mark to give her the strength and force herself to will Orochimaru's malevolence away, then she would be able to get stronger much faster than she could without it.

"Hey Anko-sensei..." Naruto called, disturbing her thoughts again. He had been trying to talk to her for a while. She had heard him, but she didn't respond, keeping her eyes forward. "Are you still upset with me?" Still no response.

Naruto looked down sadly. She had been giving him the silent treatment for a while now, and it was starting to take its toll. He had heard her when she claimed she wanted to apologize to him, and that earned his respect in of itself. She knew of the Kyubi inside of him and didn't judge him for it. Anko Mitarashi had quickly become one of his precious people. So he didn't want to lose her, especially not so soon.

"Anko-sensei..." A tear rolled down his cheek now. "Even if you hate me now, I'm sorry. I never wanted things to turn out like this. I...I'll fix this, I promise. Just please, forgive me for putting you through this."

Naruto was cut off as Anko stood on a tree branch in front of him, hands on her hips and a small, sad smile on her face. He didn't have time to stop and smashed right into her chest. Hands wrapped around him instantly, preventing from moving. If Anko hadn't began speaking, Naruto would have realized he was in the position that almost every man in Fire Country would literally go to war for.

"It's not Anko-sensei. It's Anko-chan to you brat." Naruto froze in her grip. "Naruto, it's because of you that we're even on our way back alive. This is nothing compared to what could have happened today. I should be apologizing to you, again! I doubted you, after everything you've been through. I yelled at you in the Hokage's office when you've felt pain as bad or even worse than me. Honestly, Naruto, I admire you. You were right about something. I should have felt exactly how you said when you were tricking Orochi-teme. And I did at a point. I wanted to burn Konoha to the ground for how they treated me. But at the same time, while I was wallowing in my own self pity, I didn't see how they were treating you too."

She meant it. Anko didn't need to hide her true self around Naruto. It felt good to let the real her peer through the mucky dirt of her promiscuous guise.

She squeezed the blonde even tighter, burying her face into his hair. Naruto slowly wrapped his arms around the older woman's waist. "I'll fix this, Anko-chan. Just trust me."

Anko chuckled lightly. "You're one of five people in this village that I trust and respect. Once you have that, it's hard..." She paused, thinking of Orochimaru. "It's hard to lose it..." Her somber expression changed quickly. "Plus, you're easy on the eyes and the hands." She said, leaning back from the hug.

"Hands?" Naruto wondered. Anko pointed down. "Hey, when did my pants come unzipped..." Naruto froze on spot, but didn't get a chance to say anything as Anko continued.

"I'll let you in on a secret, gaki. Shinobi of any ages are allowed to court, as long as it doesn't compromise the villages security and hinder work ethics." She seemed as if she had entered lecture mode. "By technical means, as soon as you put on that hitai-ate, you are a grown man. Of course, some people will still look at you as only children, which means that you will have to show them that you deserve the respect of any adult. You just proved to me that you are, by no means, still a child. I'll _treat_ you like the adult you are."

Naruto rose an eyebrow, taking in all the information. Though he was proud of himself for gaining the respect of Anko Mitarashi, he also analyzed the very beginning of her short lecture. "Are you hitting on me?"

"Why, is it working?"

Naruto blushed completely red, his mouth cementing itself shut. Then he launched forward, continuing towards the tower. Anko fumed and soared after him.

"Hey! Seriously, is it working?"

* * *

The room had fell into a silence, though it wasn't as awkward or tense as many thought it would be. After Ino had her little conversation with Sakura, everyone had patiently awaited the arrival of their jonin sensei's amongst their own teams. Sakura had already spoken with Ibiki, letting him know everything that happened before she was attacked by the sound team. Now back in the room with the others, she still sat alone, thinking of what exactly she would say to both Naruto and Sasuke when she saw them. She was playing through scenarios where she would be bowed in front of Naruto, begging for forgiveness. The old her still ended several of the scenario's with a fist to the dome, but after a while, they progressively became less violent. On the last of her inward scenario's, a teary eyed Sakura's lips were only inches away from the lips of the blonde in question.

"You say who did the what in the where?" She snapped her head up, noticing that she had momentarily fallen asleep. A few glances in her direction had her blushing and hiding her face. 'That...that never happened. It was just a dream...'

In the corner with Team 10, Shikamaru was surprisingly not sleeping. Instead, for the most part of the time that Ino had gone to talk with Sakura to the time that she had been back sitting with them, he had formulated a few thoughts away from the topic of what had transpired. Chouji seemed oblivious to it all as he remained silent while eating his never ending bag of chips.

"Ino." Shikamaru started. The platinum blonde looked up, startled to have her name called. She seemed to have been deep in thought, most likely like everyone else that sat quietly around the room.

"What is it Maru-kun?" She asked, almost giggling at the quick blush that formed on her surrogate brothers face. She had only used that nickname with the boy when she was either extremely happy about something or when she just wanted to mess with him. She would be using it a lot more often from then on.

"You're starting to act different. Like Hinata. Like Naruto. Hell, like damn near everyone now. What's YOUR reason?" He asked honestly. He made it a point to know when his sister was doing something potentially stupid, dangerous, and hopefully in this case beneficial to her overall as a person.

Ino blushed slightly. It was as if Shikamaru had read her mind, but knowing the genius, he had probably just put two and two together. Even after her conversation with Sakura, she was still thinking of everything she wanted to do for herself and for the others. Ironically, even if off characteristically, she had began to think of trying to befriend Naruto again. After what she had just seen happen, she wouldn't mind trying to talk to the boy to comfort him and find out what had happened.

This line of thinking led to her wanting to change even more. She wanted to become stronger so that what happened in the Forest of Death wouldn't happen again, even if she didn't know EXACTLY what happened. It still confused Ino. She knew she wanted to change, and yet, she still didn't know what type of path she was supposed to take. Was she supposed to get stronger for the sake of others? Was she supposed to change and become the kindhearted young woman she knew she could be?

"I'm weak, Maru-kun. Weaker than I should be. Because of blindly following Sasuke and for acting like a pig head." She called, though with no remorse for herself and no sadness. She had already gone over this with herself several times, and no matter how many questions she came up with, she could never find the answers for herself. Ino knew she wouldn't run after Sasuke anymore, though she couldn't deny that she still had a small crush on him. The blonde knew she wouldn't go into situations without thinking anymore, that much was for certain. Her father had taught her a lot as a child, everything that she had thrown out the window when in the academy. It shouldn't have taken her until then to figure out that there was a reason for it.

"The fact that you can admit that means that you're not weak Ino." He put an arm around her shoulder. "Everything that you've just said even. It makes me think that you've hidden the real you from us this whole time. And if that's the case, I should hit you for making me and Chouji deal with that fake you for all these years."

Ino chuckled at Shikamaru as she leaned onto him. "But how will I know if I've changed or not? I don't even know how..."

"It's like Shikamaru just said," Chouji spoke low, startling the other two. "you've already changed Ino. Even if you don't know what type of path you're supposed to be on yet, find one. If you can't go forward, go left. If not left, then right. If all the paths around you lead to nowhere then blow a fucking whole in the wall and make a different path!" The portly pre-teen called with fire in his eyes. Ino and Shikamaru sweat-dropped at the

passionate speech.

"Uh...yeah, what Chouji said..." Shikamaru said with a small laugh. "Ino, live your life. Me and Chouji here will always support you, okay? Don't be afraid to talk to us, even if I try to blow you off for a nap."

"Yeah, what's with that?" Ino called pouting. "And why are you being so non-Shikamarish right now?"

Shikamaru ignored the fact that Ino had given him his own category of lazy, but hell, it was well deserved. "You're my big/little sister. What type of brother would I be if I didn't listen every now and then?"

"You'd be the Shikamaru type brother." Chouji called, once again indulging himself with the taste of BBQ chips. Shikamaru glared at his brother.

"Thanks a lot..."

Ino's giggles made the two smile. "Thanks, both of you. I...I still don't know what I'm supposed to do, but I know I can never go back to how I was." Ino loved them. As rare as it was, this wasn't the first time Shikamaru and Chouji had been there for her. Just like she remembered when Naruto had been there for her too. She had amends to make with people. And that, Ino decided, was going to be the first step down her own path.

"Looks like we've missed a lot." Team 8 looked up as they heard their sensei's voice. Asuma Sarutobi walked through the door, followed by Kurenai and Gai. The genin didn't respond how their sensei's expected, being jumping up or at least acknowledging them more than they did. Instead, all of them looked over, didn't move, and then went back to conversing with one another. It even surprised Gai that Lee didn't greet him.

"It seems they are more troubled than we could have imagined." He stated as he saw Neji mumbling to his teammates and their solemn nods of agreement. Kurenai folded her arms and frowned as her gaze was on her own team. Hinata was sitting with her head leaned on Kiba's shoulder while Shino was next to them. It seemed as if they were speaking as well, and from the looks of it, Hinata was starting to open up again. She still wondered what happened to make the girl change in one night.

"Who could blame them. From what the ANBU reported, we may just as well have an S-class secret revealed here in front of everyone." The two men instantly dreaded what Kurenai had just said. If the secret of the Kyubi was revealed to the children, who knew what they would say about them for keeping it secret, and even worse, what would they say to Naruto.

"Excuse us, but we would like to enter." The sound of a newcomer alerted the Jonin. They turned to see the Amegakure team, the genin with annoyed expressions and their sensei with a goofy grin. Train grit his teeth.

"Please, kill this man. If he speaks one more word about food, I'm going to shoot him myself."

Fuu, who loved ramen just as much as Naruto, had even had enough of the man's ramblings on donuts and meat buns. "We'll explain to our Kage that his death was his own fault."

"Not you too, Fuu!" Vash called, tears streaming down his cheeks as he hugged the young girls leg. The Konoha Jonin all sweat-dropped.

"And...who are you?" Kurenai questioned. Vash was up as if nothing had even happened.

"Vash Stryfe of Amegakure. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Just as Vash was about to put his hand out for a hand shake, Uriu kicked him in the back sending him rolling into the room. The Konoha Jonin quickly stood aside, only for Kurenai to look down and notice Uriu on one knee in front of her.

"Forgive my idiot sensei. It seems he still doesn't know how to treat a beautiful woman such as yourself. I am Uriu Ishida, here to serve you in any way milady."

Kurenai blushed more from being a bit creeped out than from embarrassment. She was saved from further embarrassment as Fuu once again shoved her stinger into Uriu's side.

"Dammit, Uriu, how many woman are going to take a restraining order out against you before you stop doing this."

In the room, Kiba rose an eyebrow. "Who the hell is that flirting with Kurenai-sensei?"

"They are from the Amegakure team that arrived here with us remember?" Shino stated. Hinata couldn't help but let out a small, cute giggle.

"FUU!" Ten-Ten's voice rocked the room. Fuu looked up just in time to squeak as a flying Ten-Ten glomped her to the ground. "Fuu I was so worried about you!" Ten-Ten cried with streams of tears pouring from her eyes as she rubbed her cheeks against Fuu's. Fuu patted the older girls head.

"I'm...I'm fine but...you're crushing...me."

A shadow loomed over the two, making them pause until they saw Train leaning over them, a cat like smirk adorning his face as his eyes glowed that unearthly yellowish gold. Fuu and Ten-Ten yelped and dashed into the room, hiding behind Vash as he was now standing.

"Wh-what's with those creepy eyes?" Ten-Ten called flailing a pointing finger at the genin.

"I don't know!" Fuu cried.

Everyone in the room sweat-dropped as when Train walked in, his eyes were normal and looked as if nothing had happened at all. "Hey, are you two alright? You look as if you've seen a ghost." He asked innocently.

"DEVIL!" They yelled back.

While most of the nin in the room watched the scene in content, there were two whom had almost all but forgotten about everyone else.

The two nin locked eyes and a wave of tension instantly filled the room. "Neji..." Hinata whispered.

"Hinata..." He whispered right back. Even from across the room, though they didn't hear each other, they could read each others lips. Neji was surprised to see Hinata send a hateful glare his way. Then She stood, drawing the attention of her two teammates.

"You okay Hinata?" Kiba asked. Shino merely watched, sensing more than seeing the conflict between the two Hyuga.

Hinata folded her arms and walked over to Neji, stopping several feet in front of him. Her glare was neutral, uncaring now. Neji's matched hers but with a small hint of hatred showing through.

"And who do I owe to have the Hyuga heiress herself gracing a branch member like me with her presence?" He spat with malice.

"If you would open your blinded eyes, you would see that I have never claimed the main branch."

Neji was taken back by the tone in Hinata's voice. "Oh? Has the pathetic excuse for a Hyuga finally grown a back bone? No, that's impossible. Someone as pathetic to the main and side branch as you could never hope to change. You can only fall further."

The statement made Hinata's eyes flicker with the byakugan for a brief moment. "Your words will no longer effect me Neji. If you wish to continue to belittle me, then prove you are stronger. Otherwise, keep your own pathetic bullshit to yourself and have the decency to hold your head high in the presence of both the side **and** main branch."

"Fool!" Neji yelled. "Why waste my time with you, one who can't even hold her own against her younger sister? You wouldn't even last ten seconds against me."

Hinata drew a kunai and launched it at Neji. Neji drew his own and deflected it before taking a step forward and then leaping, going over Hinata. He aimed a slash right at her throat while he was above her, but instead, hit another kunai. Hinata spun on spot as she blocked his aerial attack and rotated her body into a windmill kick. Neji took a quick step back to avoid the reverse ax-kick that would have caved his skull in but wasn't fast enough to avoid Hinata's other leg as she extended it towards his chest, sending him sliding back several feet.

"Hinata, Neji, stop this instance!" Kurenai yelled. Gai put a hand on the woman's shoulder and shook his head.

"Leave them be." He said solemnly.

"But-" Gai tightened his grip slightly. Kurenai looked back and forth between the scene and Gai. She hugged herself, knowing she probably couldn't stop them anyway.

"This needed to be settled sooner or later, Kurenai. Maybe now would be best."

The tension that rose between the two ignited a spark into an all out blaze. Nothing could stop the events from unfolding now, not even the Jonin. Neji was the first to activate his byakugan, sliding into the Hyuga's stance. Hinata's dark glare put whatever feelings of hate Neji had to shame. She wouldn't allow him to tear her down. Not when she had started trying to build herself up. They would settle this unjustified dispute here and now, regardless of how she wanted to do it differently. The peaceful way has never gotten her anything. So now, she would allow her skills to talk.

"Byakugan!" She called and rushed in. The flurry of strikes and blocks made many of the others whom had never seen a Hyuga on Hyuga fight go slack jaw, meaning every genin and even Asuma. The blows seemed so precise, almost as if they both could see every single last move the other was making. The look of determination on Hinata's face made Neji shiver.

'She's better than I thought...' Neji noted.

Hinata noticed that Neji was manipulating his chakra in a way that it would curl around her strikes with the twitch of a finger and still hit her tenketsu. That was definitely something her father hadn't taught her, or that she had heard of from any Hyuga period. She knew this is why Neji was a prodigy, and not her. But Hinata wasn't a typical Hyuga either. Even if she could not best Neji in the traditional Hyuga Jyuken, she could best him at the game of creativity.

Just as Neji subtly made the move to take out one of Hinata's tenketsu, the Hyuga heiress blocked the attack, but at the same time flicked her wrist ever so slightly, making Neji's small burst of chakra miss her arm completely. Neji's eyes widened, but no one would notice. The next several strikes went the same way, and those watching couldn't see a change in the battle at all. Neji jumped back from Hinata, the glare from earlier returning. Hinata only smirked at her big cousin.

"What's wrong, Neji? I thought I would be down in a matter of seconds! Don't tell me you're starting to have second thoughts!"

Neji huffed. "A minor miscalculation on my part. You're fall is still inevitable. It will simply take a little more effort on my part." Neji's smile grew. "You are in my field of divination." Hinata's heart skipped a bit. Kurenai and Gai both looked in horror prepared to rush in, until they saw Hinata smirk too. Neji rushed forward, lines of chakra trailing behind his hands as it seemed he was completely set on ending Hinata's life.

"2 palms, 4 palms, 8 palms, 16 palms," Neji counted off. However, the entire room was stunned into silenced awe. As Neji started his strikes, Hinata had started to rotate her arms. The only people able to see what was actually happening were Train, Fuu, and Neji.

Every strike that Neji threw, Hinata's flat palms came down to meet it. A thin, long chakra blade came down with each rotation, Neji's own chakra breaking them apart but at the cost of expending the chakra that he was trying to hit Hinata with. As Neji made it to the 8th palm, Hinata took a shaky step back, as Neji's momentum would've allowed him to push through her blades and into her body had she not been able to move while performing her defense. By the 32nd palm, Hinata was literally dashing backwards as Neji continued his assault. Now Train was the only one able to see the blur that was Hinata's and Neji's hands and arms.

"Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams: 64 palms jutsu!" Neji cried as his last hits were met with Hinata's blades again, a visible burst of chakra forming between them like glass shattering and pushing Hinata into the wall of the area. She let out a weak grunt as she hit the wall and slid down to one knee. Neji was panting just as hard as the girl and his eyes shown fear. "What is this?"

Hinata panted, her eyes blurring and letting off dry heaves. "I'm...I'm not afraid..." Her meek voice called out. She struggled to stand up, her byakugan no longer activated. If one looked closely, they'd see the blood dripping from her palms. Neji noticed, and then saw that his own fingers were bleeding as well.

"How...how have you gotten like this? What's the difference today that wasn't there two days ago?" Neji called, the fear now evident on his face. "Who are you?"

Hinata slid back into the Jyuken stance. "I am who I am supposed to be." She reactivated her byakugan. "I am a believer of change..." She straitened herself out as she took in heavy breaths. "I am a person who stands on the verge of collapsing. I am a person who believes in justice and honor, of love and loss. I am a person who believes that the weak can become stronger than the best, that there is no difference between failure and success."

Hinata ran forward, chakra forming over her entire arms. Around her fist, they took the shape of lions. "I AM HINATA HYUGA!" Neji was too startled. The move came too quick. "Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Barrage!" The lions around Hinata's fist roared as she dashed past Neji, emitting a flash that temporarily blinded many in the room. Hinata stood several feet behind Neji, both of her hands outstretched from the attack. Everything went silent.

"Lady...Hinata..." Neji whispered as his jacket exploded into shreds and cuts seemed to appear over his torso as his tenketsu were all but sliced to pieces. He hit the ground on the verge of unconsciousness.

"Neji-kun..." Hinata called as she too felt the signs of unconsciousness effecting her as well. "I'm different than father and the others of the main branch. I was hated, damn near outcast. Because I didn't treat the side branch the way the others did. Because I wasn't as gifted in our arts as my little sister. Because I actually have emotions." Tears had began to fall, though Hinata's expression never changed. "I...I hate the hatred that's in our family...I hate having to lie to myself and act this way. I never want to be like father...but I don't want to lose what little family I have left there either."

"Hi...Hinata..." Surprisingly, Neji was trying to stand.

"I understand it. I understand that you hate me for what happened to your father. Uncle Hizashi was an honorable man, and more caring than I could ever imagine my own father being. He died for me, and not a day goes by that I don't thank him every night. There are times where your hatred for me makes me wish that those Kumogakure ninja would have succeeded in taking me if it would mean you and your fathers happiness."

She tried to wipe away her tears, but they just wouldn't stop flowing. She sniffed and turned towards the now standing Neji.

"Through all of this...the only reason I haven't caved, Neji, is because of Naruto-kun. No matter how much pain I've gone through, I know its nowhere near as much as him. And no matter what, he kept going. He didn't let anyone stand in his way. Even if...even if I'm only finally realizing it...I don't want to let anyone stand in my way either. I won't change who I am for father. I will continue to be who I am, and I will get stronger on my own, with the help of friends! If you wish to kill me still then I..." Hinata once more took a fighting stance. "Then I will fight you until my last breath!"

"That won't be necessary." Neji called, seeming to have caught his breath, regardless of how much his body was in pain. "I see you, Hinata-sama." Neji smiled warmly and Hinata gasped.

"Neji-kun..." By the looks of all around, they didn't understand what was going on. Only Ten-Ten and Kurenai could decipher the meaning.

"Uh...are we missing something?" Fuu asked her bun haired friend.

"Yeah. Neji-kun said he could see Hinata-chan without the byakugan activated. Within the Hyuga clan, it's the utmost sign of love and respect. It means he can see the real her now." Ten-Ten's own anxiety from just watching the fight seemed to be fading away now.

"Hinata-sama, I've seen how you're father and others treat you. Only now do I see what that truly means. My anger was wrongfully pointed at you. The kidnapping was not your fault, and at the time you could do nothing. You are hated by the main branch and I added to that hatred with my own. I could never have seen the things you have been going through with my own callous revenge on my mind."

Neji slowly walked over to Hinata, the younger girl looking up at her big cousin with a worried expression. Neji put one hand behind Hinata and hugged her. "Why is it now...only after we have gone too far that I understand this...Hinata-sama...I could have harmed you...you could have harmed me. Yet you didn't..."

"Neji-kun...you didn't use the kaiten. I knew you had the power to change too. I could never hate you." Hinata leaned her forehead on Neji's bare shoulder.

"I am glad, Hinata...sama." Neji finally lost consciousness, slumping forward onto Hinata. Hinata unsteadily caught the teen.

"I'll take him." Gai said, at their side in the blink of an eye. Hinata relinquished Neji to Gai and wiped the rest of the tears from her face. She took one unsteady step before almost falling out too. Thankfully, Kurenai, as well as Fuu, Ino, and Ten-Ten were there to catch her.

"Th...thank you." Hinata whispered the girls. She had put her all into her defense against Neji's eight trigrams. Then she went even further to use another of the techniques that she had created and that had drained her chakra reserves even further.

"No Hinata...thank you." Ten-Ten said. Ten-Ten could feel it. She could feel the change in Neji. She had never, ever, seen Neji smile. Not his usual arrogant smirks, but the genuine smile he had shown to Hinata. She blushed realizing that she couldn't wait to be the one to receive a smile like that. "This is going to change everything."

* * *

"This makes absolutely no sense." Ibiki held his head in frustration.

"Well if you can't trust me, maybe you're really in the right profession." Anko's almost eerily calm tone made Ibiki look her in the eyes. He knew that tone. It was a mix between her being annoyed and hurt.

"I'm not saying that I don't trust you, Anko. It's just that you're story has holes in it. Just because you and the kid went to have a talk doesn't make you coming back with signs of a struggle any more understandable." That was an understatement. The two looked like they'd been through a hurricane, with pieces of grass and bushes in their hair, clothes askew and torn.

"We got a bit rough, but it was nothing my little Naruto-kun couldn't handle." Anko called, pulling the blonde close to her. Naruto for his part could do nothing but blush and hope that their half truths would be enough to fool Ibiki.

As soon as they had reached the tower, ANBU escorted them to the real Ibiki, wherein he asked too many questions for Naruto's taste. Thankfully, Anko knew how to deal with Ibiki and was able to keep what really happened hidden for the most part. Naruto himself told Ibiki of Orochimaru being in the forest, which was already well known, however, they left out the part about the Kyubi, and Anko's seal being reactivated. Other than that, they told Ibiki that Anko had gotten a bit upset, and a bit frisky, leading to Naruto having to fight halfway back to the tower.

After several gut twisting minutes under Ibiki's scrutinizing glare, the two were released. Now walking towards the main room where everyone else was, Naruto let out a sigh.

"Unbelievable. And here I thought the fox was the trickiest thing alive."

"Whatever. Be grateful that worked, because if Ibiki would have found out the truth, we'd both be locked away for a long time. Besides Orochimaru-teme and Hokage-dono, Ibiki-sama is the only other person I'm afraid of."

Naruto paused his retort when they came to an intersecting hall and two people came around a corner. Anko stopped too, looking between the two and Naruto curiously. Naruto's face dropped to neutral, a mask going up just like that.

"Naruto, Anko-san, glad to see you two are okay!" Kakashi eye smiled at the two while Sasuke stood next to him, unable to make eye contact with Naruto. Naruto did nothing but continue to glare at them. Anko took note of this and put herself slightly in front of Naruto protectively.

"What's up with him? Did you already take care of his curse mark?" Anko asked, making Kakashi's eye widen.

"Uh, is it wise to speak of that in front of him?" Kakashi immediately wished he hadn't said that as Anko's eyes narrowed and burrowed into his one visible eye.

"By him, I believe you mean Naruto, and he already knows all about the curse mark and its effects, so I don't believe that would be a problem. It was a simple question Hatake, all you have to do is answer." Regardless of if Kakashi was her commanding officer or not, Kakashi knew not to get on Anko's bad side which he was doing a shitty job at accomplishing.

Kakashi looked past Anko to see the glare Naruto himself was leveling at him. It made Kakashi feel bad for a second, and reminded him of everything Sasuke had said back in the hidden room. He sighed and explained the process of applying the over seal and what they hoped it would do for a while. The whole time Anko kept Naruto behind her, though she could feel him shifting and could only guess that he was trying his hardest not to attack Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Naruto, if it means anything. Anything at all, I'm sorry." Sasuke said when Kakashi was done talking to Anko.

"Yeah, sorry you got put in your place when I wouldn't boost your shitty ego." Naruto spat back in anger. Sasuke almost flinched, but knew the outburst was well worth it.

"I don't know if you remember what we said on the bridge in wave country Naruto..."

Naruto's eyes snapped open and his expression softened just a bit.

"Back then I said I didn't know why I jumped in the way of those needles to protect you...but that was a lie. I still remembered when me and you were best friends, before the...before what happened to my family. And even though we drifted apart, you told me that we were still friends in the forest. The night before Zabuza attacked us, we promised we would stay alive and protect each other. We promised that we would never lose to anyone else so that we could be the ones to beat each other, though I still don't see how that's going to work."

"I beat you and you beat me..." Naruto whispered, speaking the words he had said that night. Sasuke smiled a bit seeing as he seemed to be getting through to the blonde. "I still don't see how that sounds homo either."

"Really? Think about it for a second."

Naruto chuckled a bit and smiled sadly. He had to admit that he had forgotten about everything he and Sasuke promised each other back then. Somewhere along the line, their friendship had become strained until it was finally non-existent. The fact that Sasuke was reminding Naruto of the past now reminded him that they were indeed supposed to be friends. Of course, Naruto wasn't going to just instantly up and forgive Sasuke especially after he attacked Kin and Fuu in the forest, but he wasn't going to stay mad at him forever either.

"Look, I'll forgive and forget on one condition." Naruto said.

"What?"

"Stop it with the got damn ego. I get that you like being stronger than most genin, but when you need to rub it in everyone's face, it just pisses people off. Besides, I'm still as strong as you or maybe stronger now."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow at that, but when remembering what happened in the Forest of Death, couldn't deny it.

"Yo, if you two are done making up, I'd like to go take a bath and a nap, so let's get moving please." Anko called, continuing down the hall.

"Wow! The legendary Anko Mitarashi just said please! That's a first!" Naruto faked surprise while Sasuke and Kakashi stood with wide eyes when Naruto taunted the exact same Anko Mitarashi he was talking about. Anko just smiled.

"You know, Naruto-kun, I was going to let you take a bath with me. I guess since I can't say please, I won't be asking you to join me either." Jaws hit the ground as Anko walked away with a seductive switch in her step, Naruto included.

"Dude...you just fucked up..." Sasuke deadpanned.

"LIKE HELL I DID!" Naruto shouted before running to catch up with the Special Jonin.

* * *

When they reached the room, all eyes fell on them. He could tell there was a bit of tension, and his curiosity rose when he saw a tired looking Hinata and an unconscious older looking male Hinata type person, a.k.a Neji.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Two separate shouts of the same name drew his attention a second too late. Ten-Ten and Fuu both flew through the air and landed on top of Naruto. Anko had been smart to take a short step to the left to avoid the flying pair of kunoichi. And just like that, the tension was broken.

"We were so worried about you dude! What the hell happened back there?" Fuu cried into the crook of his neck.

"Yeah, why'd you run off on us like that?" Ten-Ten cried while crushing him against her chest. He was starting to get used to finding himself in positions like that. Not too long after and Hinata and Ino slowly made their way over.

"I'm glad you're okay Naruto-kun." Hinata said weakly. It was evident that she was still tired, seeing as she held back the urge to strangle both Fuu and Ten-Ten for being on top of Naruto.

"Hey, Naruto. I want to talk to you about something later." Ino spoke from Hinata's left.

"Hey! Why does Naruto have an entourage?" Kiba yelled jealously.

"...How the hell did you use that word right?" Shino questioned.

Anko smirked, but a tick mark was clearly visible on her head. "So Naruto...since when have you been this popular with the ladies?"

The tone in Anko's voice made Ten-Ten and Fuu leap up in surprise. They hid behind Ino and Hinata. "She's creepier than train!" Fuu said, Ten-Ten nodding her agreement. Anko winked at Hinata, receiving a small giggle from the girl.

"Naruto, what happened in the Forest?" Chouji was the first to ask the question that had been lingering in the back of everyone's minds. For the first time, Naruto noticed all eyes on him. However, he also noticed when some gazes shifted to Sasuke and began to turn into scowls and glares.

"Hey, easy guys! Sasuke wasn't entirely at fault in the forest either." Naruto explained.

The skeptical looks on everyone's faces told Naruto that they had a hard time believing that, but no more so than the completely evil looks coming from both Fuu and Ten-Ten. From the looks of it, Naruto could tell Ten-Ten was only seconds away from launching every weapon on her person at Sasuke.

"This is going to be pretty hard to explain, especially since I can't really tell you guys what happened to Sasuke. Just know that there's a weird mark on him that makes him go crazy!"

"What mark?"

"Where'd it come from?"

"Why does it make him act crazy?"

The questions came instantly and all at once. This time the jonin calmed down the genin with simultaneous releases of ki. All eyes fell on the jonin sensei and Naruto sighed in relief. At least that was one thing he didn't have to explain. What he did intend to explain though would probably suck worse than trying to explain Orochimaru and the war.

"Naruto won't be able to answer those questions under law. He told you literally all that he can for now." Asuma explained. Ino's infamous anger rose here.

"What! Oh come on, Asuma-sensei! How does the Hokage expect us not to wonder about what the hell we saw back there? Just because we are genin doesn't mean we can't handle a little bit of classified information!"

The group of genin surprisingly backed Ino up. Another wave of ki silenced them, however, they all still seemed antsy. Before they could become rowdy again, Naruto spoke up.

"You're right Ino. As genin, we are legally part of this villages military, albeit, the lowest rank. So since I can't reveal to you what happened to Sasuke, I can at least tell you what happened to me."

Anticipation filled the genin while dread seemed to fall upon all the jonin outside of Vash. Vash cocked an eyebrow until Fuu did several motions that only her team and sensei could possibly hope to understand. Naruto began to walk into the room, finally realizing that Sakura was not with the rest of the genin crowded in front of and around the door to the room. She still sat at the far end of the room, knees pulled up to her chest. A blush appeared on her face when she saw Naruto with Sasuke following slowly behind.

"Hey, Sakura." Naruto greeted with little emotion.

"H...Hey Naruto..." She wanted to add the endearing -kun, but decided against it. It would be best to get close to him slowly, and not freak him out. "Sasuke..." She added.

For a moment, Sasuke was a bit shocked to get such a greeting from whom he thought was his number 1 fangirl stalker. The shock subsided slowly and turned into mild confusion and curiosity. "Hn." His reply was just because he couldn't think of how to answer her after that.

With the now reunited Team 7 in front of them, all other teams in the room sat around them as if at a story telling session. The jonin stood around, knowing that if Naruto so wished to reveal his own secret, they could not stop him. They were feeling more and more powerless in this situation but only Kurenai herself was thinking of what that meant about what they knew of their students. She held her breath when Naruto began speaking but let it out when Anko put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about the brat. No matter what happens afterward, he'll be fine. It's the rest of the village I'm worried about." Anko whispered.

"Since when have you worried about the village?" Kurenai asked. Anko snorted.

"I love this village!" She paused, seeing Kurenai's cute confused face. "It's the villagers I hate. I don't know what I'd do if that dango stand got destroyed."

Kurenai face palmed. "You're unbelievable."

Naruto cleared his throat a bit. "Alright, before I begin, I want to say that there's only a handful of you in this room that I actually trust. But seeing as we're all going to be working together anyway, I'd rather you know about this sooner than later. Also, whether you accept me or hate me for what I say is up to you. I won't give a fuck one way or the other, as long as you stay out of my way afterward."

This sent chills down everyone's spines. The way Naruto spoke was as if he _expected_ some of them to hate him afterward. Instead of voicing their opinions, they waited patiently for his explanation.

"I'll try to keep it as simple as possible. Thirteen years ago on October 10th, the Kyubi attacked Konoha. What we learned was that the Fourth Hokage, a.k.a, Minato Namikaze valiantly died fighting the monster, blah blah blah, and defeated it."

Some of the genin's face twisted when Naruto seemed to mock the person he always claimed to want to take after. It was just another indication of how much he had truly changed.

"Well, that's almost a load of bull shit. Even though I don't know exactly what happened that day, the Fourth did not beat the Kyubi. Even a ninja of his caliber could not defeat the strongest of the Tailed Beast. Let's make this fun, since I'm sure out of all of you here, you can put 2 and 2 together like Shikamaru has already."

Everyone looked over to see Shikamaru with wide eyes and mouth agape. Apparently he had already figured out what Naruto was saying. His surprised expression shifted to his thinking pose and the others took this as him refusing to spill the beans too.

"Alright, so anybody know when my birthday is?" Naruto asked. He wasn't surprised to see Hinata's hand shoot up, followed by Chouji, Shino, and Kiba. However, he was surprised to see Ino's hand among them. Looking back, Sasuke had his hand up at chest level, but Sakura still only looked confused. "Ino?"

"October 10th, the exact same day Yondaime-dono defeated the Kyubi..."

"Yep. Now, a bit of information to help you all out. Since the Yondaime couldn't defeat the Kyubi, he needed to seal it away."

Thoughtful expressions began to appear throughout the group. It was left with Lee, Ino, Chouji, and Hinata's entire team wondering what was going on. Ten-Ten, being proficient on sealing seemed to be the next to understand what Naruto was talking about as her face took on the exact expression of Shikamaru when he figured it out. She smiled warmly at Naruto with sad eyes, letting him know that his secret didn't make a difference to her. It made Naruto feel a bit more confident about how the others would feel.

"Alright, since it looks like most of you still don't get it, I'll just come out with it. I, Naruto Uzumaki, am the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tailed demon, the Kyubi no Kitsune."

The remaining genin all gasped. The tension amongst the jonin reached its peak, and even Anko found herself fidgeting and hoping for a good outcome.

"The Nine-Tailed fox...is inside of you?" Ino asked, her voice trembling. Naruto nodded sadly.

"But...what does that mean? And why you?" Kiba asked. He seemed the most frustrated by this information. It was only natural, seeing as the Kyubi had slaughtered more than its fair share of Inuzuka in its invasion.

"It means that the fox is alive and inside of me. The reason for why he chose me is because there was no weapon or item strong enough to hold back the Kyubi. Plus, if he would have decided to seal it into a person, their chakra coils would have to be big enough to survive an inflation of chakra strong enough to completely blow away all five major hidden villages. Seeing as that's impossible, the only other alternative would be someone with undeveloped chakra coils, ones that are naturally forming large, but open enough to leak out chakra at a safe rate."

"A newborn baby..." Ino breathed out, tears in her eyes.

"Surprising enough, I was the only baby born that day!" Even though this was a lie, Naruto didn't want to tell them he was the son of the Fourth Hokage just yet.

"What about your parents?" Sakura asked from behind him. Not able to think of a good lie, Naruto merely shrugged.

"Why did you think any of us would hate you, Naruto-san?" Neji had awoken just before Naruto had given his speech. Hinata's attack had did less damage than he thought.

Naruto frowned. "Well, a lot of your parents hate me. The villagers hate me. Hell, I hate me." He joked, but his mirth was not shared.

"But...why do the villagers hate Naruto if he's a hero?" Chouji asked. Asuma looked surprised.

"What do you mean Chouji?"

"Well...since the Yondaime couldn't defeat the Kyubi...that means the village would have been destroyed eventually. But since Naruto was born, he was able to seal it away! Naruto's the reason the village was saved that day! And if not for him, then the Kyubi would be out wreaking havoc right now!"

'Not really...' Naruto sweat-dropped.

The jonin were all taken aback by the words of Chouji and even more shocked to see some of the genin agreeing with him. They had expected there to be some level of resentment or at least unbelief in some of them. But looking around at them all, it didn't seem like any would arise.

"How troublesome." Guess who. "The 'adults' all probably looked past that Chouji. With the Kyubi attack fresh in their minds, they probably saw Naruto as the Kyubi and not as its jail. But I don't get why they still do. I've noticed the way they look at and treat Naruto, not to mention all the times he's been in the hospital for 'unexplainable accidents'."

Naruto was glad to hear that from Chouji and Shikamaru. He was glad that he would still have them as friends. However, it was those that had yet to speak that worried him. "So, what about the rest of you? Do any of you think I'm the Kyubi?"

Ino giggled. "I don't think the Kyubi's as cute as you Naruto-kun!" The blush that appeared on the boys face solidified her reasoning that there was no possible way someone as innocently cute as Naruto could be a ferocious demon. (Boy has she not watched anime.)

Kiba growled a bit. "It pisses me off. I can't say that I didn't think that, Naruto." Naruto frowned a bit. "But Chouji made a good point too. Besides, you haven't attacked any of us or anything like that. You're still the same Naruto I know, not the Kyubi."

"I know nothing of you to like or hate you Naruto-san. I will rely on your actions in the future to decide what to think." Neji was next. "However, if the Kyubi is truly sealed inside you, then there is no reason to believe that you yourself are the Kyubi."

Shino took a step towards Naruto. Though Naruto had said he was getting better at reading Shino's emotions through body language, when Shino stood completely still in front of him, he didn't know what to think. Then the silent boy held up his finger, pointing right in Naruto's face. A small bug was on his finger.

"What is this Naruto-san?" He asked.

"Uh...one of your clan's Kikaichu bugs?" Naruto answered a bit nervous at the proximity of the creepy crawly.

"Indeed. Is this me I am holding on my finger?" His monotone wavered just a bit as he let just a small, almost unnoticeable, hint of humor enter his voice.

"Of course not! You're not a little bug, you're Shino Aburame!" Naruto said loudly, still missing the comparison.

"Yes. I am myself, and my Kikaichu are separate entities inside of me. You are yourself, and the fox is also a separate entity inside of you."

"Ooooh, that's where you were going with that." Naruto laughed.

"I can't wait to test myself against your flames of youth Naruto-kun!" Rock Lee called and gave him the legendary 'good guy' pose, sparkling teeth included. Behind the group, Kakashi and Asuma held back Gai as he attempted to run to his youthful student and embrace him in a hug that would no doubt scar the adolescents for life.

"Should I be surprised about this?" Sasuke asked putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Because I don't think anything you tell me will surprise me anymore."

"You'd be surprised...no pun intended." Of course, Naruto was very worried about what Sasuke would say, and honestly, he was still worried. Sasuke may have seemed like he was trying to reform their friendship, but his ego couldn't be felled just like that. Sasuke had to be thinking about power of some sort. Naruto just hoped it would merely be motivation to get stronger and not something more sinister.

Sakura didn't say anything right away. She couldn't even fathom the thought of Naruto having the Kyubi inside him. It hurt her to remember when Naruto was always talked down upon by the villagers, her parents, and even her. To know the reason why Naruto was treated so bad was because of that, and she had treated him badly just to stay popular with other people. If she would have known the truth about him sooner, things would have been different...

That was a lie.

Even if she knew the truth about Naruto then, she would have probably still treated him bad for Sasuke. As long as Sasuke was there, Naruto would have always been nothing to her. The realization made her truly hate herself, but even more so everyone she thought she knew. Her own parents...they were some of the worse offenders when it came to Naruto. That hate transferred to Sakura, yes, but she was dumb enough to follow it without thinking.

"You don't have to say anything. I can see it on your face, and thank you." She jumped when Naruto spoke to her. The forgiving smile on his face made her heart flutter and she looked away, blush returning full force. She felt like she didn't deserve his forgiveness so easy. There would be more time for her to talk to him, but for now, she was content knowing that he didn't hate her.

Naruto was feeling ecstatic that everyone was taking this better than he anticipated. However, there was one person that had yet to answer him. He was turning to face said person, only to have a blur slam into him and almost knock him backwards on top of Sakura.

"You baka!" The silent voice of Hinata whispered into his ear. "Don't you ever think that I would hate you! We just got over this problem, remember?" He felt her crying into his shoulder.

"Hinata-chan..." Naruto was really dumb founded. Though Hinata had been changing, the meekness in her voice...the gentle embrace of her hug...even holding her close, he could tell just how frail the girl really was. Hinata had changed...and had stayed the same as well.

"I don't care about the fox being inside of you! As long as you stay who you are, Naruto-kun. You are Naruto Uzumaki..." She leaned in close so that only he could hear her. "Namikaze."

Naruto's eyes widened and before he could say anything, Hinata had planted a soft kiss on his cheek. The blood that rushed to his cheeks made his thoughts go from how she knew, to how soft her lips were. The embarrassment was not limited to Naruto as Hinata was just as red as he. Fuu blushed jealously, Anko's eyebrow twitched, and the other female genin could only look on with hopeful smiles.

"Are...we still waiting?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head.

"We aren't quite there yet Naruto-kun." Hinata looked around at the others. "But...I don't want to lose you to any of them either." She shyly admitted, though only Naruto heard her. Now it was Naruto's turn to get a devious grin. He walked over to Fuu and Ten-Ten and took them both by the waist, gaining surprised squeaks from them, and stunned gazes from everybody else.

"Maybe you should try just a bit harder Hinata-chan." He called with a wink. The massive amounts of ki that wafted from Anko, Kurenai, and surprisingly Neji made Naruto's false bravado drop to none.

"And what type of indication is that, neh, Naruto-kun?" Anko's demonically sweet voice sent shivers down every males spine.

"Uh...hey look, the Third Hokage!" Naruto shouted pointing towards the door. No one believed him and Fuu and Ten-Ten slowly pulled away, not wanting to be caught in the beat down the blonde was about to receive.

"Ehem." A voice from the door saved the blonde jinchuriki. All eyes turned to find the Third Hokage at the door.

"...That...is extremely ironic." Ino said.

"More like pure damn coincidence!" Shikamaru fumed. "Got damn probability and its stupid 1 to 100 ratios. Only Naruto..."

"Hokage-sama!" The jonin chorused and moved to greet their leader. He held a hand up to stop movement in the room.

"All of you, listen to me carefully." His stern voice left no room for shenanigans. "Everything that Naruto has spoken in this room is to be kept between yourselves. Naruto and Naruto alone is allowed to divulge this information to anyone else. To disobey this order is to go against Konoha itself, and there will be no hesitation in executing full punishment, even on genin."

The terrified looks on everyone's faces made the Hokage cringe at how harsh he had just spoken. Of course it was because of stress, but he should have at least tried to calm down before entering. He was already informed by Ibiki about everything that had transpired, and to say the least, he was furious. For Orochimaru to be able to infiltrate the village and even the Forest of Death all while evading capture was enough to give the old man a concussion just by thinking about it.

"If it's any consolation, I can reveal that I'm the Jinchuriki of the Seven-Tailed Stag Beetle." Fuu called, standing close to Naruto again. Once more, the genin were surprised to learn of another jinchuriki, but the shock was short lived. Apparently after learning of one, finding another wasn't so bad. "It's no secret in our village, so I guess it really doesn't matter anyway."

The Hokage shook his head. "That was information that could compromise your villages security. I advise that you refrain from doing such things, even around allies."

Fuu looked down in shame. She had really only did it because she wanted to be accepted just like Naruto. It made her so happy to see people who accepted a jinchuriki for being a person. Amegakure...well, they weren't nearly as accepting as these Konoha shinobi were.

"Now I understand that you have requested a meeting with me." Sarutobi spoke to Fuu again. Vash perked up at the mention of a meeting.

"Yes! We would very much like-" As he approached the Hokage, his foot snagged on a loose strap of his trench coat. He stumbled forward, tried to catch his balance, and somehow did a 90 degree turn. The room fell deadly silent when his fall was broken...by Kurenai's chest. Asuma's cigarette fell from his now gaping mouth.

"..." The blush that appeared on the woman put even Hinata to shame. It only got worse as Vash flailed his hands around until they landed on the two mounds his face was buried between.

"Wot err ese?" (What are these?) Vash's muffled voice coincided with several squeezes to Kurenai.

"..."

The ground began to shake. Vash slowly began to lean up, his sight traveling past two large cloth covered breast to the enraged face of the youngest jonin in Konoha. A tick mark appeared.

"Uh...heh..." Vash nervously gave the woman another squeeze.

"YOU PERVERTED MOTHER FUCKER!"

The resulting explosion from the most epic uppercut Kurenai had ever delivered in her life, which would promptly be named the shin-shoryuken in generations to come, sent every bystander in the vicinity smashing into walls on all sides of the room. However, with the black burn marks on the ground to show the sheer power that the jonin had unleashed, there was an untouched patch of ground around none other than the target of her feminine wrath. Vash, and the Hokage of course, stood unharmed amidst the destruction that Kurenai had wrought.

"Uh...about that meeting." Vash called and the Hokage quickly shunshined them from the room.

Kurenai growled and began to stomp away, dropping more swear words than many people learned in their whole lives. The remnants of the Konoha 12 plus their jonin sensei's and the Ame team began to emerge from the wreckage. When they were all up and confirmed alive, Anko leaned on to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto-kun. Remember that list of people I said I was scared of?"

Naruto nodded.

"Put Kurenai-chan at the top..."

* * *

**Holy crap, this chapter took too got damn long to type. It's 2: 30 in the morning right now because I refused to go to sleep before I finished this one. I want to find a flow to keep up with updates so that you all never have to wait another three months for one post. I hope the length at least made up for that. **

**I'm pretty sure it's in chapter 4, but I stated that Fuu's team is from Amegakure because Takigakure was destroyed prior to this story and rebuilt as Amegakure. (This is not canon, nor did I intend to follow canon in the first place. Otherwise, this wouldn't be a fanfic.) To truly understand how I write, I've put up explanations and what you could call warnings on my profile. That includes my takes on "Bashing" and "Fem Haku/Kyubi". **

**Also like I said on my profile, the things I change will have a reason. So yes, there is a reason much deeper than what anyone can guess as to why I had Takigakure destroyed and rebuilt as Amegakure, and it has a HUGE part to do with Fuu's storyline in this tale. **

**This chapter was actually scary to even me. I had a good flow in the beginning, but near the middle it seemed like I had run out of ideas to transition the story from one part to the next. Then I ended up dragging on Naruto's confession a bit too long and ended up cutting this chapter before I reached the point that I wanted to, being the next morning. **

**I also understand that some of the emotions seemed to progress a bit fast, including Naruto up and forgiving both Sakura and Sasuke. Just know that they are ATTEMPTING to make amends. This does not mean that everything is perfect between any of them just yet.**

**And sorry, but no, Hinata and Naruto are still not officially together. Setting up a harem here, I want to have most of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place all at once. However, I will try to explain how Hinata knows of Naruto's heritage in the next chapter. **

**As for everyone accepting the fact that Naruto has the Kyubi, I pretty much used the whole "kunai sealed in scroll" argument but...without using that cliché argument. I like the idea, but I'm pretty sure most of you expected to see it. (Ha, take that!)**

**Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about Kin. I'll be showing a bit more of her, but that's all I can tell you for now.**

**SO! I hope this answers a lot of questions and opens up even more! Tell me what you think, what you want to see, and where you think this is going! I...will be going to start on the next chapter now. Reese's Pieces and Happy Holidays!**


	7. A Gap Between Truth and Lies

_**Hope Will Never Die...the many roads of earth that lead to specific destinations. Yet, that one wanderer with no set goal in mind takes road after road to come to a fork. To go where all are traversing, or to take the road that leads into the darkness, on an adventure yet to be discovered by man or to meet an unfortunate and silent end...**_

* * *

**Chapter 7: A gap between Truth and Lies**

The trail that lead beyond the Hokage's Tower was barren. The trees on either side of the road were either dead or dying. Broken leaves fell to the ground and made a soft crunch beneath her feet, and her feet only. She had noticed a while ago that Ibiki made absolutely no sound at all, and looking back at his steps, saw that the leaves under his feet remained untouched. Kin wondered just how much chakra control one needed to pull off a feat like that.

"You'll learn." Ibiki said as if reading her mind. The slightly terrified girl could do nothing but nod her head.

As they continued further down the road, and the bustling sounds of the village died down behind them, the path abruptly ended. Now in front of them was merely dead trees that seemed to stretch on for miles. It made her shiver. Subconsciously it made her feel...lonely. Ibiki jumped up into the trees first, Kin following right after. The branches were almost paper thin and her first step snapped a branch, almost sending her plummeting towards the ground below. Luckily, she was close enough to the body of the tree to grab a hold of it with her hand and then used chakra to stick to it. It was too fast at first and she ended up skinning her hand a bit, the pain just a throbbing pulse for the moment since the bleeding was minimal.

Ibiki stood several trees ahead, looking at Kin with a bored expression. It wasn't as if he expected her to get it on the first try. He was glad to see her reaction time at least let her catch her balance before she hit the ground. She would need that, because the trail to ANBU headquarters only got more rigorous from there. This wasn't even a taste of the training that he would be putting the girl through. It was merely the precaution area used in case genin or chunin decided to wander through there.

"Um...Ibiki-sama, how am I supposed to follow you?" Kin honestly wanted to know. There was no way she would be able to figure it out on her own. She didn't know any on-field chakra control exercises that would let her regulate just enough chakra to traverse on such thin branches.

"You do know the water walking technique, right?" Ibiki questioned, not making any move to go help the girl. Kin nodded. "Water has a surface thinner, or just as thin as these branches. The only difference is that there is more if it. The density and mass is much greater. Now think about the regular tree branches that you usually traverse. Due to the rough terrain and the fact that each branch is a different shape and size, what do you do?"

Kin thought for a second. "You...change the amount and flow of chakra to each branch. Because when you're moving, you'll never know if a branch is weak or not, so you don't want to overload a smaller branch with too much chakra and have it explode under your feet!"

"Yes. The principle for tree walking and the first lesson is easiest. Standing on a single tree and single tree branch does not need such consideration. However, when traveling through the tree networks, split second calculations and decisions need to be made, which in truth, makes tree climbing much harder than water walking. On water, you use a constant flow of chakra to stay on top of it, but since there is a mass of water beneath you at all times, you never truly need to regulate your chakra, unless the water is greatly disturbed."

Kin was happy to have answered Ibiki's question right, but it didn't really help her from hanging off the side of the dying tree either. The confused gaze she was giving Ibiki relayed the message.

"Think of the density of each branch. When you travel amongst larger trees, you can use more chakra. But since these branches are smaller than our fingers, you are going to need to use the bare minimum amount of chakra possible. And I'm not going to tell you it's easy either. To be able to use as little chakra as possible to perform actions that you usually use more for is anything but simple."

Kin groaned. Just what was Ibiki playing at? To be able to perform something like that, you'd need to have as much chakra control as a Hyuga and then some. It was damn near impossible for her. She yelped when Ibiki began to leave her. "Hey! Wait, where are you going?"

Ibiki stopped and looked back. "There's a clearing two hundred meters from here. You have an hour to reach it or I'll be escorting you to a Torture and Interrogation Cell as an enemy of Konoha. If you want to live until tomorrow, you'd better get a move on." With that he left Kin's view. The dark haired girl's heart beat a mile a minute.

"You're joking!" She yelled. Silence. "Seriously, you're joking right?"

* * *

After the little outburst from Kurenai, the teams had been moved to the main room of the tower. Viewing platforms sat on both sides while a giant set of hands stood on the far side of the room opposite the door. Kurenai herself had went to find the Hokage and Vash, set on hurting the man to some degree. Asuma had dragged Gai and Kakashi to help stop the woman, though Anko herself refused, saying that perverts deserved to be put in their place. It didn't help that she glared at Kakashi as he had just began to read his Icha Icha book either.

"Well kiddies, since Hokage-sama hasn't said anything about postponing the exams or anything, you all just got a free pass to the next round."

The genin now sat in a big circle on the floor of the room. Anko was in the middle of them, acting as temporary proctor, or as she called it babysitter, until Hayate could show up.

"You all have got an entire day until the next part of the exams are announced, so what the hell are we going to do? We can't leave the tower, I'm not bringing any of you little bastards anything to eat, and I'm pretty sure the only bathroom is in a restricted area."

"Shit, really?" Train called, dancing around as if he had to use the bathroom.

"Ano, sensei, where'd Naruto-kun go?" Ino asked. Everyone began to look around and found that the blonde shinobi really had disappeared.

"What the hell? Did he go with the other jonin?" Anko asked turning towards a corner where she knew an ANBU was waiting.

"No ma'am. He's in the next room preparing himself for his meetings." An ANBU appeared wearing a cat mask. She knelt before Anko and quietly took a look around at the genin. They eyed her suspiciously for more reasons than she could count, but she knew the main reason was her status. The ANBU were always there in almost every part of the village. She could only guess that they were thinking how much she knew of them. The honest truth was that she knew very little though. She was not a field operative until today. She had spent most of her time in the ANBU headquarters training under Ibiki and Anko sometimes.

"Hey Neko. Remove your mask." Anko ordered. Neko's posture showed just how shocked she was to hear such an order from Anko. But she didn't voice it. For an ANBU, questioning an order would be just like treason. However, her hesitation was enough to show Anko that she was against the order.

"Ye...yes ma'am." Neko slowly moved her hands up to her mask. She could feel the tense air growing as even the other ANBU watching seemed to understand her pain. When ANBU were ordered to remove their mask, they were usually getting demoted. Though Anko didn't have that power, she could still order them to remove their mask and put their life at jeopardy by having their identity revealed.

"Neko, you didn't get the memo did you?" Anko asked as she saw how slowly the woman before her was going. Neko paused, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Memo?"

Anko sighed and held her head. "Go back to headquarters and check your missions. Ibiki should be sending your sister to take your place. Come back immediately and stay with Naruto-kun in case these brats try to do something they'll regret.."

"Hey!" The collective call of most of the genin rung out towards her. She chuckled and dismissed Neko.

"Why does Naruto want to have meetings with us?" TenTen asked.

"I take it he just wants to talk to some of you privately, and vice versa." The Special Jonin indicated Naruto's own team as well as Ino and Hinata.

Sakura and Sasuke stood and walked a bit further from the group. Sasuke looked at the girl to see she had her head down and her shorter hair covered her face so he couldn't see her expression. The girl in question was still weighed down with the guilt of her actions for the past several years, but especially recently. She couldn't think of anything else except ways to truly make up for her actions.

"Sakura." Sasuke called to get her attention but it did nothing. He stopped walking and upon instinct, so did she, but made no move to acknowledge their lack of motion. Sasuke shook his head but smirked slightly. "Sakura, me and Naruto want to take you on a three way date."

For a moment Sasuke thought that even such a remark had no effect. However, no less than three seconds later, the girl fainted on spot. Now with a look at her face, it resembled a lecherous old man that he was sure he would meet one day, creepy smirk and all.

"Man, is everyone I know a pervert?"

Before Sasuke could answer his own question with a resounding yes, the door to the room opened.

"Sasuke and Sakura, the boss will see you now." A clone said. Sasuke groaned as he saw that Sakura wasn't going to be spontaneously waking up and picked the girl up bridal style, getting some knowing smirks from some of the other genin. Sasuke blushed and looked away.

"Oh shut up. It's not how it looks." He called, though with a small smile hidden.

"Oh right, you're gay." Neji said seriously. A short pause filled the air...then one of the hidden ANBU burst into laughter igniting the rest of the room as well. Sasuke's embarrassed blush doubled and tinted red with anger before he stormed out of the room, grumbling about stupid Hyuga's and there new found sense's of humor.

Carrying Sakura into the next room over, the tinges of red never leaving his face, he was greeted with the sight of Naruto sitting behind a desk, ANBU carrying paperwork and putting them in filing cabinets included. At first glance, Sasuke could've sworn that he had entered the Hokage's office and none other than the Fourth himself was sitting before him. Taking a moment to shake away the shock of seeing this, he walked forward and sat Sakura in one of the three chairs that sat in front of the desk, taking the next one for himself.

"Naruto...what is all this?"

"I don't know. I walked in while they were filing stuff and refused to leave."

At that, two ANBU paused in their work to send what could no doubt be glares behind their mask at Naruto.

"This is Ibiki-sama's office! You better hope he doesn't come back while you're playing Hokage." One of them spoke.

"Whatever. Well, what happened to her?" Naruto asked, noticing the perverted smile on the unconscious pinkette's face. Sasuke's mouth cemented itself shut and he looked away, the pink tint of his cheeks returning.

"Nothing that will be repeated today." Sasuke growled through grit teeth. Naruto just shrugged.

"So what did you two want to talk about?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion. "You were the one who started putting together meetings. I said what I had to, I guess you really only need to talk to her."

Almost as if by some divine fate, Sakura would begin to stir in her sleep. She yawned cutely, rubbing her tired eyes with a small, content grin on her face. "~Yah~, what a wonderful dream! I can't believe I went on a three way date with Sasuke-kun and Na-" Upon realizing whom she was in the room with, the images of her dream flooded her mind. The pink on Sasuke's face was nothing compared to the blazing red that was Sakura's being as she almost passed out again from the images of her dreams 'end'.

"Wh-what's going on here?" She called, sitting bolt upright. Her eyes darted between both other shinobi, refusing to look either of them in the eye.

"Questions people. We don't have all day! I'd like to get some sleep before the next part of the Chunin exam." Naruto said, motioning the pink haired girl to get on with it. Being reminded of their current situation Sakura sobered up instantly just to become downtrodden by what she needed to discuss with Naruto.

Even the ANBU moving around the room sensed the dread that fell over Sakura and many of them slowed in their work to listen to conversation that was about to happen. Sakura's head hung low again and she put her hands in her lap.

"I'm...I'm sorry Naruto. For everything. The way I treated you back then, and the things I do and say to you now too. I-"

"Dammit Sakura, I thought I said I forgave you already. Seriously, to be one of the smartest genin, you really act slow sometimes. I think you get that from Ino."

A part of her wanted to get upset at his insult, laugh at his taunting of Ino, and hit him for interrupting her. But the biggest part of her heart was telling her to just smile and thank him.

"Arigatou, Naruto-kun." She slammed her hands over her mouth instantly after speaking the words. Naruto had flinched when she called him that. "I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. Just...not really used to hearing that, especially from you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "As if Hinata hasn't called you that enough, now that TenTen girl and Ino have started. You've got almost as big a fanclub as I do now."

"Oh god no!" Naruto called in horror. Images of mobs of rabid fangirls chasing him entered his mind and sent a shiver down his spine. "I'd rather angry mobs with pitch forks again."

A short silence followed, the ANBU in the room tensing at that statement too. They slowly got back to work, finding it in their best interest to ignore the following conversations. They knew all about what happened to Naruto, and on some occasions had looked the other way. They regretted it now, seeing how the boy had been growing up. And then hearing the revelation in the next room solidified their respect for the boy. They had all been in the wrong at some point. It took the next generation to see the truth that they had denied for so long.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "If you want to get payback, I'll help."

"No Sasuke. That's not the way I want to do things. If you've noticed, some people actually act different now. I'm not going to put myself as low as them just to get a moment of satisfaction. I'll work above them and eventually reach a satisfaction that no one can deny me, one that will last for years to come." Naruto's look made Sasuke think of himself. Was trying to kill Itachi really worth it? It wouldn't bring back his family, that he knew, but the rage he felt whenever he thought of his brother made his avenger mentality seem all the more justified.

"Sakura, we can try to mend our friendship later. Same with you Sasuke. For now, we should focus on the exams."

The two nodded, all three feeling happy that their team had somewhat come back together. As they stood, Naruto turned away, a small tear forming in his eye. He was ready to cut ties with them both, but just a little time and they had come around on their own. The ANBU were slowing in their work as they listened to the conversations. In a swirl of leaves, one more person entered the room. It was a woman with long black hair, wearing a black leather sleeveless vest, black leather capri shorts, and a leather jacket at her waist. Naruto rose an eyebrow, trying his hardest to keep from getting a nosebleed as the woman had the biggest chest he had seen in Konoha to date.

"Uzumaki-san, Anko has assigned me to watch over you during these meetings." The woman spoke in a subdued tone. She didn't seem upset, but something was bothering her.

"Uh...I don't really need anyone to watch me. I trust...most of the others. By the way, what's your name?"

The woman looked down. "Tifa. That's all I can tell you."

Naruto shrugged at the woman's behavior. A few seconds later, the door opened again. Ino walked in by herself, taking Naruto by surprise. "Hey Ino, what's up with you?"

Ino blushed a bit and held her arms behind her back. She didn't make eye contact with Naruto and cast a strange glance at Tifa, having never seen the woman before. "Um...Naruto-kun...I want to say sorry..."

"Not you too! Okay, if you're just going to be apologizing about things that happened years ago, I forgive you already. I don't hold grudges...well not against petty stuff."

Ino was about to get upset at first but calmed down quickly. She shook her head, seeing the childish smirk on Naruto's face and her blush increased again. "Naruto-kun, you should really let people apologize. Even if you've already forgiven them, maybe they haven't forgiven themselves."

Naruto looked genuinely surprised. "I hadn't thought of it like that..."

Ino giggled. "There's the Naruto-kun I know."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. He scratched his cheek sheepishly before looking at Ino apprehensively. Her smile faltered under his gaze. "Ino...is there something you want to tell me?"

"Other than apologizing, I don't know. I still don't understand what I want to do after this. The first thing was making amends for the things I've done with you. I want to be your friend again Naruto-kun...and maybe even..."

Both genin went silent, their red making the room glow. Even Tifa had a small blush as she watched the scene. 'Lucky kids. Love is hard to find for a shinobi.'

"I can't make promises Ino...me and Hinata-chan have already decided to be together later."

"But not now?" Ino asked, her head perking up at the info.

"Uh...no, not now but-"

"Then you're mine for now." Ino said in finality.

"Ino-chan, I don't think-"

"And you called me Ino-chan. It's settled. I'll see you later Naruto-kun!" Ino blew him a kiss and quickly ran from the room before he could reply.

Naruto, Tifa, and the other ANBU blinked.

…

"What...just happened?" Naruto asked. Tifa smiled, showing a devious side of her that never came out when she had her mask.

"You, my friend, just got a girlfriend. A headstrong one at that."

Naruto's head hit the desk. "Kami, I'm going to die before the end of the day."

"Why is that Naruto-kun?" The door opened to reveal Hinata, Shino, and Kiba. Hinata seemed to be back to her old self, the permanent scowl that had adorned her face for the most part of the exam gone and replaced with her cute smile that Naruto had gotten used to seeing.

"Uh...no reason...heh." Naruto sweat dropped as he got deadly glares from Kiba and Shino. "Ehem, well, I don't know what else I have to discuss with you three, but you're here so..."

"Naruto-kun I don't want to wait anymore!" Hinata called instantly, her face flushing red and her hands clasping over her mouth just as Sakura's had. Naruto's head hit the desk again.

"Death. I knew it. Kami wants me gone." Naruto groaned as Tifa was in almost hysterics, holding her sides laughing while the other ANBU just chuckled alongside her. "I'm guessing you heard Ino-chan then?"

Hinata pouted but nodded anyway. "Naruto-kun, you aren't obligated to...to be with me." She blushed but Naruto could see that she was also sad about this too. "If you want to be with Ino...I can't stop you. But I want you to know that I want to be with you now, even if we aren't exactly where we want to be."

"Hold on Hinata-chan! I didn't say anything like that!" Naruto was on his feet fast as he saw tears start to enter the girls eyes. "Me and Ino-chan need to work on our friendship, we aren't anywhere near ready to date each other. I think she's still just confused about what she wants to do!"

The truth was, Naruto was the same way. He was confused on what to do now too. Ino didn't seem like she was joking, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings. But he and Hinata had already decided to be together. Even if they were now only doing it so that Hinata wouldn't lose her chance. Naruto remembered that Fuu was also after him, and could only guess that TenTen was slowly falling as well. He held his head in frustration, now realizing how deep he was now.

'If only the fox were still here...'

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata's voice brought him back to reality and he almost jumped back when he saw that she was standing next to him, leaning in closer and closer. Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly puckered. His heart raced in his chest as he realized what she was doing and with very little time to think settled for closing his own eyes shut tight. Only a small second later did he feel the delicate touch of her lips on his own and his heart began to settle. Hinata began to lean in and Naruto obliged by wrapping his arms around her petite waist.

"Ehem." Shino cleared his throat loudly, startling the two whom had entered their own little world. Somehow, Hinata had found her way onto Naruto's lap, their arms encircling each other. The kiss had gotten so heated that Naruto lost all thought, focusing on nothing but the soft touch of her lips, the silky flow of her tongue and the building heat between them both.

"Damn you two move fast." Kiba called with a grin.

"Not really, Kiba-san. It did take them over three years to finally get together." Shino corrected, earning groans from the new couple and laughs from all others present in the room.

When it settled down and Hinata had moved back to stand with her team, Kiba moved forward. "...We've got your back Naruto, no matter what. Even if mom or the others are too blind to see that you aren't the Kyubi, we know that you aren't. Besides, if we didn't Hinata would make us see the truth."

Naruto looked down for a moment before smiling at Kiba. The boy had grown since the academy, surely now. He was glad to see that he could still think for himself and had become a level headed person. It most likely came from his sister and Akamaru though. Kiba's need to protect his family and partner was all he needed to discern what he wanted to do or not.

"Thank you guys. You don't know how much this all means to me." Naruto was genuinely happy. He couldn't remember a time when so many people ever accepted him for him. Besides wave country. It made wanting to protect this place, these people, all the more worth it.

As the three prepared to leave for the next group, Anko appeared at the door. "Brats, Hayate's here. He's going to tell you all what to do. You can finish up with the rest of them later. Tifa, let's go. We've got business to take care of back at headquarters for now."

"Yes ma'am." Tifa called and both her and Anko vanished.

Naruto shrugged and stood up to follow the other team back to the main room. Once they were inside, they saw the group standing in straight lines, four empty spaces left for them to slide into. In front of the group was a tired looking chunin with a clipboard. He coughed into his fist as the group finally all arrived.

"As you may have heard, my name is Hayate Gekko-cough,cough-. I'm the proctor for the next part of the exam. However, because of certain circumstances, -cough,cough-, you all have been granted a pass into the next part and this part of the exam is still on going. Rooms have been prepared -cough, cough, cough- for you all, -cough-, and you will be required to stay there for the remainder of this portion of the exam. I advise -cough, cough- you all get as much rest as possible and report back to this room -cough, cough- at noon tomorrow."

The genin sweat dropped at the sickly chunin. It seemed as if he had a hard time getting through that explanation. They wondered what happened to make the man so ill. They also didn't mind having to go to bed either. From the looks of things, it was already about ten at night anyway. They welcomed a nice shower and a cozy bed over the forest any day. Once dismissed, no more words were spoken and the teams all followed a chunin to their respective rooms. One for girls the other for boys.

* * *

**Girls room**

The room prepared was obviously an infirmary. Anko had said there were no bathrooms in any area not restricted and so far it seemed she was telling the truth. There was a shower area, but it was an open shower. There was no bathroom area as far as any of them could tell. That was fine though too. Ninja had to be versatile with things such as that and even if they were technically inside, they were in an unknown place that just as well could have been the wilderness.

"Well...let's get acquainted!" Fuu called as she jumped onto one of the many beds in the room, looking a lot like Naruto with her bright smile and confident air about her.

TenTen giggled at her friend while Hinata, Sakura, and Ino sweat dropped. This was the first time they had gotten a real good look at the girl. She seemed younger than them, but maybe it was just her height, just like Naruto. Her demeanor even reminded them of Naruto and they were starting to find it scary how much the two seemed to be alike, even in posture.

"Hello Fuu-san, I'm Hinata Hyuga. It's nice to meet you." Hinata offered first, trying to be polite. Naruto had seemed to taken a liking to the girl and she didn't seem all that bad. Hinata hoped she would be able to make a new friend in this girl.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka." Ino waved to Fuu.

Sakura didn't respond. When she was about to speak, Fuu shot her deadly glare that she wasn't prepared for. She knew Fuu was still upset about how she was talking about Naruto back in the Forest. She couldn't blame her either. She couldn't believe the stuff she had been saying and wanted to bang her head against the wall just to forget it. She just kept quiet and avoided all eye contact.

"Hello to the both of you. I'm TenTen Hiroshi." TenTen held her hand out to Hinata and Ino, trying to lessen the tension that had started to build. Ino laughed at TenTen.

"We know who you are TenTen. You graduated 6 months before us. All the girls in our class looked up to you." This revelation brought a blush to TenTen's face.

"R-really? I had no idea..." TenTen held her hands under her chin, picturing herself as the loving big sister to all of the younger girls. It's what happens when you're an under-appreciated person.

Fuu dropped down from the bed and shook everyone's hand except for Sakura. A frown made its way upon her face as she noticed Sakura walking away towards the other end of the room. With a sigh, Fuu jogged after her.

"Hey!" Fuu called out to her, making her flinch at first. She slowly turned around but still refused to meet Fuu's eyes. Fuu sighed again, holding her head in frustration. "Even though I'm still pissed at what happened in the forest, if Naruto can forgive you then I guess I have no choice either. My name is Fuu, what's yours?"

Sakura looked at the girl in skepticism and confusion. Then the situation just made her feel even worse. There were complete strangers who treated Naruto better than she did and she had known him for years. It just made her guilt return full force. She hadn't forgiven herself for anything yet and felt like she didn't deserve the forgiveness of anyone else either. With that in mind, instead of shaking the girls hand, Sakura surprised even herself when she embraced Fuu.

Fuu's eyes widened as the girl wrapped her in a hug. "Thank you for not being like me." Sakura whispered. "Thank you for not judging Naruto and for actually treating him the way he's deserves to be treated."

"Uh...what?" Was the only thing Fuu could think to respond with at the moment. Her eyes were swirls of confusion and her head lopped to the side, her brain fizzled from trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Amazing how a single event can change one's view." Ino mumbled to herself next to TenTen. The older girl looked at Ino and saw a single tear in her eye.

"I have no clue what you all are so solemn about, but I want to take a bath. Anyone want to join me?"

At TenTen's words, the four other girls in the room paused...and then slowly turned as red as tomatoes. The bun haired girl rose an eyebrow, especially when the younger four suddenly got nose bleeds.

"What? Was it something I said?"

* * *

**Boys Room**

Just like the girls, the boys room was a large infirmary. There was still no bathroom as they could see which meant they would be using the forest still. The boys didn't converse like the girls did, opting instead to claim their beds right away. Naruto took the one closes to the door, Shikamaru taking the one next to his. Sasuke grabbed the one across from Naruto while Train and Uriu were next to Sasuke's. Chouji grabbed the one next to Shikamaru while Shino and Kiba took the farthest two. Without a word to each other, all the boys fell asleep.

"What...the hell was that?" One of the hidden Anbu asked. The other just shrugged.

* * *

**Forest of Death...**

The tower was finally in view as the sand trio made their way through the forest with both scrolls in hand. They found it extremely quiet and extremely...less bloody than they expected. More so, there didn't seem to be any other teams around. The tension in the air wasn't founded, they figured, as no traces of other people were even near them at all. However, the youngest of the group was leaking a bit of killing intent and grumbling beneath his breath as they slowly made their way towards the goal.

"Uh...you okay Gaara? You seem a bit tense." Kankorou asked, feeling more normal than he had all day. Gaara doing anything BUT leaking killing intent wasn't natural, even if he was starting to get used to it. 'That didn't last too fucking long.'

Temari sweat dropped as their little brother ignored them and kept walking with his arms folded. To most people, it would seem like the normal Gaara. However, Temari couldn't help but hold back a giggle because instead of Gaara's normally stoic face, the young jinchuriki was actually pouting. "Aww, poor Gaara. Is it really that serious?" She asked, letting a bit of mirth enter her voice.

"It's not fair..." Gaara's even tone didn't give hint to him being upset, but it may as well have come out as a girlish whine to Temari who couldn't hold back her laughs anymore. Kankorou looked between the two in confusion.

"What? What's not fair? Seriously, I'm lost here, and I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the crayon box, but there seems to be some important context missing here."

Temari waved her brothers comment off. Gaara just ignored them both and picked up the pace, just hoping to get to the tower to meet up with Naruto. Temari slowed a bit and put an arm on Kankurou's shoulder. "I know why he's upset."

"Why?"

"Because we didn't get the first scene in this chapter like we did in the last two."

"..."

The trio stopped walking, Gaara looking back with the same stoic pout on his face. "It's just not fair.."

Kankurou held his head in frustration. "I seriously hate everything right now."

"And apparently someone else hates the fourth wall." Temari finished with a happy chirp as the trio finally reached the tower.

* * *

**Girls Room**

"Holy crap! This bath is huge!" Fuu exclaimed as she saw the large bath in the tower. It was also found out Anko lied about the bathrooms. They were on the opposite side of the bath in a locker room like area. The tower had most likely been used as a commercial resort before whoever built it found out that having a resort in the middle of a place called the Forest of Death wasn't such a good idea.

"Wow...even the public bath back in town isn't this big." TenTen called in amazement. Sakura, Ino, and Hinata just looked on with the same amazed expressions as the two other girls.

The small group of girls walked over to the locker rooms and admired the amount of hospitality that seemed to be engraved in the details of the place. While outside and in the other halls it seemed like a place for ninja, this one simple area really did seem like somewhere they would be able to relax.

In the locker room, TenTen continued to marvel at the surrounding architecture while taking down her hair. When it was done, flowing down past her shoulders, she turned around to look at the girls behind her whom had gone silent. She rose an eyebrow at their shocked expressions.

"What? Something on my face?"

Ino was the first to raise a finger at her. "TenTen-senpai...you..."

"Your hair..." Hinata continued.

"IT'S GORGEOUS!" All the girls chorused in unison. TenTen flushed pinker than her shirt, once again gaining praise from her peers that she wasn't used to getting.

"Eheh, it's nothing special...it's actually a mess most of the time, which is one reason I keep it in buns."

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Ino hollered, quickly moving to TenTen's side and running her fingers through the silky locks. "Senpai, you are one of the most beautiful girls in this village! Why the hell are you still single?"

The other girls nodded their curiosity on the situation as well. TenTen shook her head at the questions though. "It's not really something I want to talk about right now. Or at least, let's get comfortable in the bath first, okay?" Her tone was low, a hint of sadness escaping with the sentence. However, she didn't seem too upset with sharing the information with her new found friends. She did notice Fuu rubbing her shorter hair sadly. "What's the matter Fuu?"

Fuu jumped at TenTen's words. She smiled sheepishly. "Ah, nothing. Just remembering something, that's all."

The girls began to undress, with a little persuasion on Hinata and Sakura's parts, but soon all the girls were unclothed and in the large bath. Immediately, all eyes fell on Hinata and TenTen, who were the most developed out of all the girls thus far. Fuu and Sakura were next to each other, in the water with nothing but their noses and eyes above the surface with despair over them. Ino just shrugged, feeling at a natural point in her feminine growth.

For the first moment, the girls were silent, enjoying the feel of the water. Then after several minutes of getting used to the water, Ino looked at TenTen, her own hair sprawling in the water around her. "So what's up senpai? You never told us why you're still single!"

TenTen blushed. "Well...The other reason I keep my hair in buns is so I can fight better. The hair only gets in the way when training and can be used against you in a fight."

"Yeah, but you have it up even when you're just walking around! Why not take it down when at home or something?" Sakura inquired.

After a short pause, TenTen answered her. "My mom died when I was really young." TenTen started, making all the girls gasp. "Our weapons store started going under once dad started losing the will to make weapons. First the quality dropped, then the time-frame in making the pieces, until dad had gotten us to the verge of bankruptcy. By the time I was ready to enter the academy, I knew I would have to help him by any means necessary. So I spent all four years of the academy learning how to use the forge, and how to make weapons on my own. Once my father saw how much time I was spending in the forge instead of out with friends, he started to gain some of his spirit back. He wanted to be there for me and it made me happy that I could get him back on his feet."

She sighed, a sad smile making its way onto her face. "But because of what I did, I didn't have any friends. I was always working, studying, and training, even while home, and I got so used to my hair being up in buns. I never had any friends outside of Lee and Neji if you can call him a friend. I've never been to a birthday party, I've never played at the park...hell, I guess I've never had a childhood. So of course, I've never had a boyfriend. All the boys thought I was a workaholic tomboy. Some of them thought I really WAS a boy."

"Why not just take your hair down and show them the truth?" Hinata asked.

"I'm not the type to want to prove something to worthless people. Besides, the last reason I keep these buns up is to remind myself to never stop working to make things better. Not just for my dad anymore, but for everyone else too. I wanted to be the one to make Neji come to his senses, but you beat me to that Hinata. I'm not mad about that, I'm really grateful, but it reminds me that I had stopped trying at a certain point. I won't stop again."

Ino, Sakura, and Fuu all had tears in their eyes from the story. They all waded through the water and hugged TenTen, making the older girl blush even more. She didn't know if she could handle much more.

"Aww that's so amazing TenTen-senpai!" Sakura cooed with Ino nodding her agreement.

"You're truly a role model! I wish I would have been like you back in the academy!" Ino called.

Fuu had her head against TenTen's chest, her arms around her waist. "You're amazing nee-chan!"

Those words did it. TenTen's face heated up to the point where the water around her began to boil like a hot spring. Before she could get lost in her own little world, she noticed Hinata looking into her own reflection on the water's surface. She had a serious gaze on her face, one that TenTen recognized as self-reverence.

"Are you okay Hinata?" She called, getting the other girls to turn their attention the Hyuga heiress as well.

Hinata didn't respond right away. After a few moments, she sighed sadly and looked up at the others with an obviously forced smile. "I'm alright. Just thinking..."

Knowing that it was her fault for the shift in mood, TenTen derailed the conversation. "So, you all wanted to know about me, what's up with your love lives? Any of you have boyfriends?"

At her words, all four younger genin turned bright red and moved to their own respective corners of the bath, so to say. Even more ironically, all four girls were thinking of the same person, although one of them was thinking of an extra person as well.

"I have a boyfriend..." Ino started with a sly smirk. Hinata took note and grinned deviously herself.

"Yep. And he's a wonderful kisser, ne, Ino?"

Ino's eyes widened and her jaw fell open as she saw Hinata's narrowed eyes and devious smirk. "B-but..."

"Don't worry Ino-chan, I'm sure Naruto-kun wouldn't mind us sharing." Hinata was joking, however, her words sparked something within each and every female in the bath. As Hinata took note of the metaphorical 'light bulbs' going on above all the other girls heads, she suddenly regretted trying to be devious...

**(To Be Continued...)**

* * *

**I guess first things first is an apology for the agonizing wait for a subpar chapter. Yes, I cut the chapter short (or better yet in half) due to the fact that this has been sitting on my laptop for well over a year or two now. So instead of attempting to slap another 6000+ words on it, I decided to leave it at a point where the next chapter can open easily. This was also so I can get it up on the site and let everyone know I'm not dead, nor have I abandoned my fanfics. **

**The bath scene was supposed to continue on, though I completely forgot where it was supposed to lead to. **

**The scene with Tifa removing her mask made absolutely no sense and I have no idea what I was thinking when I put that in there...but since it was already there and so much had happened afterward, I decided to just leave it and take the flames that will come. (I can use them to keep myself warm through this damn winter.) **

**Other than that, I'm too tired to apologize about anything else, or to tell you what to expect from me. Let's just hold hands and sing a love song until the next chapter is done.**


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